


The Moon and His Sun

by Pokeheart909



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game), Persona 3
Genre: Aigis is still a robot, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Personas (Persona Series), And figure out different ways to help social problems people may have, Angst and Fluff and Smut, BanG Dream Music, BanG Dream girls will come in slowly, But now she’s a robot designated to learn human behavior, But they ain’t goin’ anywhere further, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hello Happy World! is confirmed to be part of the story eventually, If you want super angst play/watch the p3p game, Inspired by Music, It makes me too uncomfortable with them, It’s mainly Shinjiro and Minako, I’m gonna add more people over time, Kisses as well, Most of them will only be cameos, Multi, Slow Burn, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Swearing may happen with the BanG Dream girls, They don’t need a titanic filled amount of angst, Twins, but not too much Angst, music references
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-03 19:44:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19470865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokeheart909/pseuds/Pokeheart909
Summary: Shinjiro Aragaki is a young man who has issues in his past for failing to protect people. He falls in and out of each day, not being able to see, or hear, or smell, or taste, or touch the colors of life most of the time. There has only been one circumstance throughout his life that managed to make him see joy in life: cooking. But now isn’t the time to think of cooking, it’s going to be Shinjiro’s third and final year of high school. Along with said school year, there are two newcomers to the school. Twins, a young man with blue hair and primarily indifferent to most situations, and a young woman with brown hair, who can somehow make Shinjiro see more of the joys in life, the colors of life.





	1. Burn My Dread (Of Moving In Late To The Dorm)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone~! I just want to let you all know that I do not own anything in the fanfic, besides the fanfic itself, unless otherwise stated.

**Minako**

* * *

The monorail just had to be late, what a way to make a good first impression. Not much of a first impression if you’re going to be so late that everyone will be asleep. I sigh as I turn towards my twin brother, Minato. Despite being late to get to the dorm, he’s calm. Although having known him since they were in the womb together, it’s not that big of a surprise, he’s normally calm, cool, and collected. We walk together underneath the waxing moon, it’s light illuminates the streets even where the street lights can’t reach. The stars twinkle and sparkle in the night sky beside the moon. I follow my brother while still looking up towards the sky, and then I see a streak of an almost blinding white light. “A shooting star?”

Minato stops just a few feet ahead of me and we both gaze at the sky towards the shooting star. I join my hands together in front of my chest and stare longingly at the shooting star. They say that if you wish upon a shooting star, you’re wish will come true. I breathe in and out slowly and collect my wish from my thoughts to present it to the star. _I wish to have a happy life. That is what I wish to you, please let me have a happy life._ Once I finish thinking my wish, the star fades from view. “You ready to continue, Minako?” I swivel towards my brother and nod my head.

We stroll our way all the way to the dorm, and once we arrived my jaw dropped. This did _not_ look like a dorm, it looked like a five star hotel! “Minako, if you have your mouth gaping open like that, it might freeze that way.” Minato tells me with a smug smirk on his face. I pouted at him and entered the intimidating dorm building with my elder twin.

We entered the building, and it seemed just as fancy on the inside, as it did on the outside. There were two girls sitting on the couch that turn to us as our presence becomes known. The first girl to approach us has the same distinguished and intimidating feel as the building. She has long, bright red hair and I can see she has a touch of lip stick on. The second girl seemed much more friendly, she has light brown hair, and a bright pink sweater. The first girl speaks to us first. “It seems that you two came in late. It’s past midnight you know.”

 _Has it really been that long?_ My brother nods. “Yeah, the monorail ended up picking us up late and ran into a problem on the way here. Sorry that you had to stay up this late.” I bow in apology. “Like my brother said, sorry for the inconvenience.”

The brunette smiles at us. “I like sleep, but it couldn’t be helped. Don’t worry about it.” She giggles a little bit and I can’t help but giggle as well.

The distinguished girl spoke up again, “Right, there is no need to worry about it. We should introduce ourselves though. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo, I’m a third-year at Gekkoukan High School. It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” Kirijo-senpai gestures to the brunette next.

“My name is Yukari Takeba. I’m a second-year and I’m part of the archery team. It’s nice to meet you two.” Takeba-san smiles at us both. “It’s nice to meet you too, Kirijo-senpai, Takeba-san. My name is Minako Arisato.” My brother nods in acknowledgement to the two girls. “I’m Minato Arisato.”

Kirijo-senpai nods towards Takeba-san before talking again. “Takeba will be showing you two to your rooms, the first day is tomorrow so I recommend you two go straight to bed. Well, goodnight.” Kirijo-senpai walks off and up a staircase, and then out of sight.

Takeba-san smiles at us both. “Mitsuru-senpai is right, we should get some sleep for tomorrow. Follow me.”

Minato and I follow her up the stairs as an argument can be heard. “Shinji, come on! You barely showed up enough to move on to this school year last year! It wouldn’t look good to the teachers if you skipped the first day!” “Aki, I don’t care what the teachers, or anyone else for that matter, think of me as.” “Yeah, well Mitsuru and I care about you! We’re you’re friends Shinji! It’s fine by me if you want to skip some days, but you should at least show up tomorrow.”

As we go up the stairs to the second floor the voices grow louder and closer, and once we arrive on the floor two figures are seen. This time it’s two young men, one with a maroon pea coat, and the other with a bright red vest. The two seem to be arguing in front of one of the rooms on the second floor. Takeba-san interrupts their bickering. “Umm... is this a bad time to be here, Akihiko-senpai, Shinjiro-senpai?”

The two young men swirl towards us. The one with the pea coat with a stern expression and the one with the vest with a little bit more of a relaxed but strained expression. The one with the pea coat spoke first. “No, this is over.” The voice sounds like the one called Shinji.

He opens the door to the room he and, presumably, Aki were arguing in front of. But ‘Aki’ puts his hand on ‘Shinji’s’ shoulder. “No, it’s not! If you don’t go to school tomorrow on your own, I’ll drag your ass there myself! Now it’s over. Night Shinji.” ‘Aki’ waves off to ‘Shinji’ as he scoffs. “Night Aki...” ‘Shinji’ enters the room and shuts the door, ‘Aki’ does the same to a room closer to the stairs.

Takeba-san turns to Minato and I. “Sorry about them. This kind of thing happens a lot between them.” Takeba-san sighs and points to the room at the very end of the hall. “So the room at the end of this hall is yours, Arisato-kun. Easy to remember, right?” Minato nods and starts walking to said room, “Night sis. Night Takeba-san.”

Takeba-San and I both chime in with our good nights to Minato as he went inside his room. Takeba-san and I then start walking up the stairs some more, and we got off onto the third floor. “Your room is easy to remember too, it’s the one at the end of _this_ hall. If you need anything just come to my room.” She then points to a room. “Well good night Arisato-san.”

Takeba-san walks into her room and I decide to go into my room as well. My exhaustion overwhelms me as I flop onto my bed. I fall asleep almost immediately.

* * *

I finish getting myself ready for school by putting my hair back up into a ponytail before grabbing my school bag and wallet. I then exit my room and start heading downstairs when I smell something heavenly. I trace the smell to the dining table where there are eggs of all varieties, omurice, toast, pancakes, bacon, sausage, a small tray of sliced cucumbers, butternut squash, and zucchini, a small tray of sliced apples, grapes, and orange slices, a pitcher of water, a pitcher of orange juice, and a pitcher of milk. In other words, there was a breakfast buffet on the dining table.

Just looking at the food makes me devour it without thinking, as the guy in the baseball cap and the guy named ‘Aki’ are doing right now. The baseball cap guy shouts. “Holy shit! This is the best breakfast for the impending doom!” ‘Aki’ turns to him. “Hm? What do you mean by impending doom?” The baseball cap guy is looking at the guy in complete shock. “School, duh!” “Oh. That makes sense coming from you.” “Hey what’s that supposed to mean Akihiko-senpai!?”

I approach the table in awe, and ‘Aki’ and the baseball cap guy seem to notice me. “Huh? Oh, are you the new girl? I heard we were getting a new girl and guy in the dorm.” It was the baseball cap guy who asked me. I nod. “My name is Minako Arisato. It’s nice to meet you two.” I smile at them and the baseball cap guy chuckles with a cheeky grin plastered onto his face. “Nice to meet you too Mina-tan! I’m Junpei Iori, Ace Detective!”

At that ‘Aki’ roles his eyes and a familiar voice comes from behind me. “Jeez, how stupid can you be Junpei-kun. Ace Detective? More like Stupei, Ace Defective.” I turn around to see Takeba-san giving Iori-kun an annoyed expression. Iori-kun winces as if the insult gave him physical pain. “Well good morning to you too, Yuka-tan.”

‘Aki’ chuckles at their banter. “While we saw each other last night, I didn’t introduce myself. My bad. I’m Akihiko Sanada, nice to meet you too Arisato-san. Sorry about the arguing last night, I’m just worried about Shinji is all.”

I took a seat across from Sanada-senpai and shake my head. “It’s fine, but on another note...” I stare at the food longingly, “We can eat this, right?” Sanada-senpai nods and I begin plating my breakfast along with Takeba-san. I take a bite of the omurice and my mouth fills with it’s aromatic scent and glorious taste. I feel my mouth already forming a smile thanks to the food. I happily eat my food as I hear more voices join everyone at the table.

When I finish I see a few new people as well. Minato and Kirijo-senpai have joined us as well as a girl with blue hair, a boy with jet black hair and bright blue eyes, a girl with blonde hair, a young boy with a bright orange jacket underneath the Gekkoukan elementary school division blazer, and an albino shiba inu. The albino shiba inu sits by a dog bowl filled with a meat dish that the dog can eat. However, ‘Shinji’ doesn’t seem to be in the dining room at all.

“About time you stopped spacing out Minako.” I turn to my brother, “Spacing out?”

The young boy speaks in his slowly changing voice. “Yeah, Arisato-kun tried to get your attention earlier, but you were super into your food that you didn’t even notice.” The boy with the jet black hair talked next. “I don’t blame you though. Whenever these special buffets come up the food is absolutely delicious.”

“Arf!” The absolutely adorable shiba inu barked. The blonde hair girl spoke in a monotonous voice. “Koromaru-san said ‘I always enjoy the meals provided by Shi-“ But the girl was cut off by a familiar voice. “Hey! Aigis, remember what I told you!” It was ‘Shinji’, although he seemed rather flustered. The blonde girl, Aigis, replies to him. “I do. Sorry for the inconvenience Shinjiro-senpai.”

A grunt comes from towards the lobby. “Thanks...” The shiba inu finishes up his breakfast and starts racing towards the lobby. But who is that Koromaru-san that Aigis was talking about?

I shake my head and decide to do the dishes while being introduced to the others. The blue haired girl is Fuuka Yamagishi, the jet black hair boy is Ryoji Mochizuki, and the young boy is Ken Amada. Then Aigis comes up. “Hello, my name is Aigis. I am a robot designed to learn human culture and interactions, and solve any social problems humans may have. But I am still learning the process of friendship, so I must apologize for any inconveniences. The albino shiba inu is Koromaru-san. I am able to understand his thoughts to bring them out into what would be considered speech.” Well... that’s a lot to take in at once. “N-Nice to meet you Aigis-san.”

The albino shiba inu comes in from the lobby and barks cheerfully at me. I laugh at the shiba inu’s enthusiasm. I kneel down to him once I finish washing the dishes. I let him sniff and lick at my hand. “It’s nice to meet you too, Koromaru-san.” I smile happily at the people who I will be living with until we graduate.


	2. First Day (And the Mass Destruction Battle)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s time for everyone to finally go to school. Since they were all together for breakfast, they decide to all walk together, but not everyone likes the idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again~! I’m glad to see you reading the next chapter! If there’s anything you see wrong with the fanfic, or you find a little off, just let me know and I’ll change it to the best of my ability. Chapterly reminder that I don’t own anything in this fanfic unless otherwise stated. Now enjoy!

**Shinjiro**

* * *

I stare at the new girl gently petting Koromaru with a big, euphoric smile on her face. She seems to like him, that’s good. Koromaru’s a good boy. After licking enough of her hands and being pet for a while, Koromaru dashes towards me yipping all the way, and as mush as I wanted to smile, I kept a stoic face. It’s best to never let your guard down towards strangers, who knows what they can do. I do crouch down to pet his head a bit. “Arf!” A small smirk worms it’s way onto my face. “Good morning to you too, Koromaru.”

I turn to the dining room table at what remains of the breakfast I made earlier. It’s almost completely gone, and Aki and Iori are still going at it. Those two should at least make an effort to balance their nutrients if they’re gonna eat so much though. I watch as Aki pours protein powder all over his bacon and I want to scream at him that the bacon has enough protein in it. But after last night where the two new kids and Takeba caught Aki and me arguing, I’d rather not create another scene. I sigh and face the new girl, back to washing the dishes of all the already gone food and the others’ plates. I go beside her, “Let me help.”

She looks up to me in surprise, but she then gives me a bright smile and I see her reddish-brown eyes twinkle. “Thank you, umm...” “Shinjiro Aragaki.” She makes a content noise. “Thank you Aragaki-senpai!” Her face fills with so much glee it feels as though I’m being absorbed by it, and everything in the room seems much brighter. I let myself calm down as I grab a plate to wash. “No problem.”

The new girl and I work together in washing the dishes in silence as everyone at the table either finishes off the rest of the food, or making playful conversation. The girl seems to hum a song to herself as she cleans the dishes about five minutes later from starting. Eventually we clean up all the dishes and Mitsuru stands up. “It’s about time we all go to school.” Iori groans and Koromaru shines in disappointment. Amada goes up to Koromaru. “Don’t worry Koromaru, we’ll be back.” Iori yells out. “Hey, where’s my encouragement for the day?” Takeba then goes up to him with her usual annoyed expression whenever they talk. “There is not enough encouragement in the world to satisfy you with school.”

Iori sighs before getting up from the table along with everyone else. Aki then suggests the thing I want to most avoid right now. “Since we’re all going in the same direction, why don’t we all go together?”

I internally groan, I hate talking to most people, the only real exception is Aki. Now I not only have to show up to a crowded, bunched up place full of people, but I have to be around people talking to each other on the way there. Iori has a big, wide smile stuck on his face. “Hell yeah! I’d love to have a distraction from school.” Amada nods. “It’d be nice to talk some more.” Mitsuru has her mature look on. “Alright, but we can’t be so distracted that we’ll end up late.”

Dammit. If Mitsuru agreed then I can’t back out at all. I make sure the pea coat I have on top of my uniform is on right before grabbing my school bag and waiting for everyone to leave the building. Once everyone leaves I exit the building and before I can even take another step outside, the new girl stares at me with a joyful expression on her face. “I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself to you yet. My name is Minako Arisato. It’s nice to meet you Aragaki-senpai!” She gives me a cheerful smile.

I nod. “Nice to meet you too.” We both catch up to the others, and walk our way to the monorail to get to the schools. Iori and Takeba bicker as usual, Yamagishi and Aigis talk about Aigis’s programs and functions, Mitsuru and Aki discuss about preparing for the college entrance exams, and Amada, Ryoji, Arisato, and the new guy all make small talk together.

I linger onto Mitsuru and Aki’s conversation though. “Mitsuru, while I wouldn’t say I’m bad at exams, I’m not the best at them either. Do you have any tips for them?” Mitsuru calmly answers. “I’d suggest studying at least an hour per day during this year. It’s also important to have good health during the exams so I’d recommend getting good rest and eating well before the exams.” Aki, being the muscle-headed most of the time idiot he is, says, “So it’s like boxing, but instead of practicing your punches, you study? Alright, I might be able to do even better than I thought. I wonder what college I’ll go to though.” 

College, huh... I never really gave it that much thought. With everything going on with me though, I’d rather not. I turn my head towards the ocean, we’re almost to the monorail. It’s brilliant blue makes me just want to stay in it for a long time. It makes me forget everything, it makes me feel like I can breathe. I turn away from it once we arrive at the station. We all go onto the monorail together and I find myself between the new guy and Arisato. The new guy stares out at the ocean with a blank look on his face. Arisato speaks to him. “Minato, did you introduce yourself to Aragaki-senpai?” 

No honorific? He looks up at me. “I’m Minato Arisato. I hope my sister doesn’t bother you too much. Nice to meet you.” Afterwards he continues to stare blankly at the sea. I pivot around to see Arisato-san glaring and pouting at her brother. “Minato!” She sighs in defeat, and decides to take her gaze towards me. “He has a point though. I’m sorry if I’ve been bothering you.”

I shake my head. “You haven’t.” _Yet_. She breathes a sigh of relief and has a small smile on her face. “Thank goodness.” I let myself linger my eyes at her. Compared to her brother she has a lot more pep and optimism, and besides them both being pretty fair-skinned, they don’t really look alike. _She’s kind of cute though_. Wait, no. We’re not going that far Shinjiro. We’re just going to be dorm-mates, nothing more, nothing less.

Before I knew it, the monorail had arrived at our destination, and once we were about a few blocks from the station we parted ways from Amada. Then after another two blocks, we found ourselves at Gekkoukan High School. I walk in with the others and we all go to the bulletin board to find our classes. Then Arisato-san and Arisato-kun leave to go to the faculty office and meet their home room teacher. I find my class and head off to go sit in the uncomfortable desk to be around people who make me feel more uncomfortable. I go into my class and once I open the door a bunch of people who had already gotten inside seem to have gone dead silent from their conversations. I ignore them and find where I’m supposed to be sitting. Once I sit down everyone begins to converse with each other in low, and hushed tones, and the room begins to feel darker and more suffocating. But it’s nothing I’m not used to.

Eventually everyone else in my class came inside and the teacher shows up to take role call before going to the auditorium for the opening ceremony. As we make our way there I already hear rumors of many different kinds. “Hey I heard there were two new transfer students in the second year, along with a foreign exchange student.” “Really? Is there a girl?” “Yeah, She was walking with the other transfer student and all of the people in the Iwatodai dorm apparently.” “Wait, _all_ of them? Including... You know...” “Yeah, including him. I don’t even know why he showed up today. He barely managed to pass last year since he was absent so many times.” “Right? Plus the dude looks totally shady. I don’t even know why they let him come here to begin with.”

I decide to ignore the rest of their gossip. We make our way to where we’re supposed to be seated and I see Aki wave to me. I acknowledge him with a curt nod and sit in my seat for the ceremony. As it usually does, it drags on for a long while, and school then continues and is eventually let out. I start gathering my stuff and make my way towards the door. But as I’m about to open it, the door slams open. It reveals a very out of breath Arisato-san and the blank expression of Arisato-kun. Arisato-san being the person with more than a few words speaks first. “A... Aragaki-senpai...” 

I then hear my classmates start to gossip again. “Why are the transfer students looking for Aragaki-senpai? Don’t tell me... The girl one wants to date him!?” “Shut up, not so loud! They’ll hear you!” Arisato-kun gives them a glare before continuing for his sister. “She wants to know if you’d be interested in starting a club with us.”

”Huh?” A club?


	3. Joining a Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinjiro is asked by Minako and Minato to join a club with them, and a certain blue-haired girl. The problem is while Shinjiro loves to do what the club is about, he hates to do it in front of anyone except Koromaru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome again~! I do not own anything in the Persona series, or any music involved unless otherwise stated. Please enjoy the fanfic!
> 
> The song mentioned is called “Happiness! Happy Magical*insert single eighth note here*” by Hello, Happy World! I found the romanji and English lyrics on the Bang Dream! Wikia page.

**Minako**

* * *

Aragaki-senpai stares at me with an almost completely stoic face, but there’s a mix of confusion. “...What kind of club are you trying to get me to join?” I then hear people whispering back and forth, but can’t actually make out what they’re saying. “Yamagishi-chan wants to make a cooking club, but we still need one more member. I already asked Sanada-senpai, Takeba-chan, Kirijo-senpai, Iori-kun, and all of our classmates and they all said they were too busy! But Sanada-senpai told me that you might be willing to help out. So please Aragaki-senpai,” I then bow to him, “Please join the cooking club.” 

I then hear absolutely nothing. I could have heard a pin drop. Then I heard Aragaki-senpai’s voice, but in a stutter. “...Let’s talk about this somewhere else.” He then pushes my brother and me out of the doorway as fast as humanly possible, and that’s when I see his face is heavily colored in pink. He doesn’t stop until he takes us to the rooftop. He turns to the door and slams it shut. He breathes in and then breathes out a sigh. “So, lemme get this straight.”

Aragaki-senpai pivots to face us. “You need one more person to join the... the cooking club. You asked around pretty much everyone you know so far before coming to me, and Aki had told you guys that I would be willing to help out. Is that right?” Minato nods his head calmly, while I nod my head with enough enthusiasm to hear a bone crack in my neck. Aragaki-senpai sighs again before muttering, “You little bastard Aki...”

He then gives us the most serious expression I’ve ever seen in my entire life. “Am I truly your guys’ last resort?” My brother and I nod again, and Aragaki-senpai stays silent for a few more minutes. He whispers so quiet that I could barely make out the one word he said. It was like he said it in pianissimo. “...Fine.” I feel my face smile widely and hop with glee. “Really!? You really are-“ “But be quiet about it!” 

Aragaki-senpai’s face is pretty much a tomato at this point so I pretend to zip my lips and put a finger to my lips to show I’m going to be quiet. But I’m so happy, and even more ecstatic to be a part of the cooking club Yamagishi-chan wants to make. I whisper to Aragaki-senpai, “Well, you still need to come with us so we can get permission so...” I then gently grab his wrist and sprint to the door. “Let’s go to the faculty office!” Out of the corner of my eye I see Minato shrug his shoulders and begin to catch up as well. I also hear Aragaki-senpai muttering and stuttering. “A-Arisato-san! Wh-what the h-hell!?” 

I ended up giggling as a reply, while I don’t want to seem rude, I kind of find it funny when the serious and collected Aragaki-senpai gets flustered and confused. The last stretch comes up as we near the faculty office and I see a tuft of Yamagishi-chan’s blue hair. We stop in front of the door way where the other two members wait. Yamagishi-chan and Mochizuki-kun stare at Aragaki-senpai in surprise as I let go of his wrist. Yamagishi-chan is the first to actually speak, although in stutters. “A-Aragaki-senpai, you actually want to help us?” 

Aragaki-senpai just nods, but his embarrassment is still shown through the tint of pink on his ears. Mochizuki-kun then shows a Cheshire Cat grin to Aragaki-senpai. “So... you want to help us, by joining us... The _cooking club_. Could it be that you were the one who keeps making those delicious food buffets?” Aragaki-senpai’s ears grow to an even darker shade of pink. “Th-This ain’t got anything to do with that.” Mochizuki-kun chuckles in response. “Whatever you say Aragaki-senpai.” Mochizuki-kun hums as he opens the door to the faculty office and all five of us enter.

Yamagishi-chan approaches Ms. Toriumi and quietly gets the teacher’s attention. “Umm... Ms. Toriumi?” The teacher scans the array of students. “So these are the people who will be participating in the cooking club?” Yamagishi-chan nods. “Yes. We have all five people now.” The teacher nods. “I see that.” She grabs a club establishment form and a pen. “Well, you need to say what the club is, what days you will meet, figure out who will be the club leader, and everyone in here’s signature. I’ll be the teacher advisor for it, so don’t worry about that part.”

Yamagishi-chan turns towards the rest of us. “Umm... are Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays fine with everyone?” Everyone nods and she writes it down. “Wh-Who should be the c-club leader?” Minato chimes in. “You were the one who came up with the idea. So I’d say you should be it.” I smile at Yamagishi-chan. “Yeah, you came up with the idea, so it _is_ technically your club.” Yamagishi-chan smiles with a hint of embarrassment. “A-Are you sure?” Everyone agrees and she writes it down along with her signature. We all write down our signatures, Aragaki-senpai seems to be very hesitant though. Ms. Toriumi takes the form and puts her signature where the teacher advisor part goes. “Alright. The cooking club has been established, I’ll show up once per week on Saturday to check on how you all are doing.” We all say thank you to her and we leave the faculty office.

Yamagishi-chan smiles at all of us. “So that means the first club meeting will be tomorrow. I promised a friend of mine in my class that I’d go shopping with her once I solved the cooking club problem. See you at the dorm tonight!” She hurries off. “See you later Yamagishi-chan!” I wave to her and she waves back. Once she’s out of view, Mochizuki-kun’s more soft-spoken nature comes out. “I’m gonna go do something. See you guys later.” He leaves and then Tomochika-kun, one of Minato and my’s classmates, walks by us. “Ah, hey Minato, Minako-san.” He then walks up to Minato and whispers something in his ear. Minato nods to whatever he said, before turning to face Aragaki-senpai and me. “I’m gonna go get ramen with him. See ya.” He walks off, without a care to even hear a goodbye, with Tomochika-kun. 

Aragaki-kun’s voice mutters a question after I stood there for a few minutes, “You don’t have anything to do, or hang out with people like the others?” I shake my head. “No. The only thing I planned for today was getting the cooking club together with Yamagishi-chan and doing my homework. Why do you ask?” Aragaki-senpai just stares at his shoes like they’re the most amazing and spectacular thing on the planet. “Dunno. You just seem to be the busy person type.” I think for a moment before replying, “You wouldn’t be wrong, most of the time back at my old school my whole schedule was filled to the brim. But since I just got here I don’t have much to do at the moment.” I look up at Aragaki-senpai. “What do you usually do?” Aragaki-senpai seems confused at first before sighing. “It doesn’t matter.” I pout at him. “Yes it does, people do stuff all the time and what they do makes up the person.” Aragaki-senpai stands there with a stoic face except for his eyes. His gray eyes only seem to be filled with deep melancholy. He looks to the wall. “I guess worrying over people counts.”

I smile at him, “It does, it means you care about those people.” Aragaki-senpai appears to be flustered for a moment, but then he goes into his usual stoic expression. I think for a moment before deciding to ask what was on my mind. “Do you wanna go back home together?” Aragaki-senpai shows surprise for a moment. “I... I need to pick up groceries for the dorm.” I smile cheerfully at him. “We can do it together!” He appears to be even more shocked than before, but sighs. “Alright.” I smile widely as we both head out of the school to go to the monorail.

We eventually made it to the monorail and I stare through the windows as we travel to our stop. That’s when I see the Moonlight Bridge again. I know I will never forget that bridge, or that night. I noticed this morning that Minato saw it too. I hope he’s okay, I know I felt fidgety and nervous when I saw it. That _is_ the place of the accident ten years ago after all. I hold onto the pole even tighter and wait until we stop, and during that wait pushing back those god awful memories.

We stopped at the Iwatodai station and made our way to the grocery store near the dorm and I help gather the groceries for the dorm with Aragaki-senpai. As we shop I decide to ask more questions about him. “Aragaki-senpai, if you don’t mind me asking, how’d you meet Sanada-senpai?” He grabs one of the groceries, a bag of flour, and puts it in the cart. “We grew up together.” The curt response made me realize that there’s most likely more to it than that, but I’m not sure if I want to press my luck. “Okay. Do you like school?” He lets out a short, wry laugh. “If my argument with Aki last night didn’t give you a hint on that, then I’ll out right say it. I don’t like school.” I let out a nervous laugh. “I guess that’s true... But I still wanted to confirm it.” We then go into the produce section and Aragaki-senpai and I look for the vegetables and fruit on the grocery list. Once we grab what we need from there, he swirls around to face me. “Since you seem to be in the mood for questions, why did you ask to come back to the dorm with me?” I answer his question. “Why not? We live in the same dorm, I didn’t have many plans, and if you did I wouldn’t be too upset about it. But I like to be around people.”

Aragaki-senpai nods and we finish up the last bit of grocery shopping. We head home in silence, comfortable silence. Once we got inside the dorm, I could hear Koromaru-san’s barking as he races around us, and I see Aragaki-senpai with a warm smile on his face. We put away the groceries and Aragaki-senpai feeds Koromaru-san dinner. This time with an even bigger and brighter smile as he sees Koromaru-san happily dig into his dinner. Seeing Aragaki-senpai smile like that seems like it should be so natural for him. Aragaki-senpai stands up after petting Koromaru-san one more time, and he notices that I’ve been staring at him and Koromaru-san. “You seemed really happy. A smile suits you, Aragaki-senpai.” At that Aragaki-senpai scoffs. “Yeah, right.” “I’m serious. It seems natural for you.” He stops and scans my face, as if to see I was lying. Afterwards, he tries to walk away again, but I rush in front of him to stop from getting through the doorway. “Why do you think you’re smile doesn’t seem natural?” Aragaki-senpai shakes his head. “While I am a little bothered you would pay attention to that, that’s not what I was getting at. I...” He pauses, like he’s trying to figure out what to say. “I just don’t like to smile.” I pout at him, but still not budging to let him through. “Why don’t you like to smile?” “I don’t want to talk about it Arisato-san.” His eyes seem even sadder than usual. That’s when I get an idea. “Well then, if you don’t want to talk about why you don’t like to smile, I’ll just make you smile anyways.”I pull out my phone to find the instrumental of the song I like to sing when I’m down. The song starts to play and Aragaki-senpai looks at me with confusion. “What are you planning?” That’s when I begin to sing.

“Kawaritai... kawarenai, dōsureba...

Nani? Nani!? (Oshiete!)

Kikasete?

(Koshokosho)

Boku ni hanashite goran?

Dame Nantes dare mo kime tenai yo

Onaka kara hakidaseba 

Tsurai no dō demo yokunaru 

(Arararara? Fushigi!)

[I want to change but I can’t, what should I do...

What? What?! (Teach me!)

Will you listen to me?

Go ahead, try and ask me?

No one can determine what’s wrong

If you just spit it out

That pain will simply won’t matter

(Hmmmm? Mysterious!)]

Hajimeru mae ni (akiramenaide!)

Dekinai nante (omoikomanai!)

Egao wo wasurecha mottainai yo?

Kimi no tanoshīkoto wo (tanked shiyou)

Tsubo wa doko darou? (Tsutsui chae! Hora!)

Tsun! (Tsun!) Tsun! (Tsun!)

Chun! (Chun!) Chun! (Chun!)

Sagasou yo boku to!

(Hora hora, kowagaranaide?)

[Before you start (Don’t give up!)

You can’t do it (Never thought of that)

It’s such a waste if you forget how to smile

The things you think are fun (Let’s look for them)

Where is that seed? (Let’s dig for it! Look!)

Tsun! (Tsun!) Tsun! (Tsun!)

Chun! (Chun!) Chun! (Chun!)

Look for it with me!

(C’mon, don’t be afraid!)]

Yūki ga nai nara boku ga ageru!

Mahō no (Kotoba de) tonaeyou! (Se no de!)

’Hapinesu! Hapī Majikaru’

Nedaeba nan demo kanau kara 

Tanoshī koto tanoshimou!

Minna wa sekai no egao kirakirato

(Kirameke! Sora e to)

[If you don’t have any courage, I’ll give you mine

With my magic words

Sing! (On your mark!)

’Happiness! Happy Magical’

If you wish for it, anything can come true

The things you find fun, enjoy them!

We are this world’s smiling face. Sparkle!

(Pierce through the sky!)]

Kanashimi no kao wa fusenaide

Kagayaku (Kimi no me)

Misete yo (daisuki!)

Warau kao ga ichiban!

[Don’t let sadness cover your face

Let it shine (Your eyes)

Show them to me (I love it!)

A smiling face is the best!]

Kimetsukeru kuse wo yame chaeba

Dare datte byōdō ni 

Chansu ga ai ni kurukara 

(Arararara! Konchi wa!)

[Stop that habit of determining the value of things

Everyone’s equal

Because chances will come to greet us

(Oh my! Hello!)]

Kimi no yorokobi (boku no yorokobi)

Awasereba hora! (Muteki Delhi tsuyoi!)

Daremo ga minna motsu sukueru chikara

Yari kata wo shirou (Kimi nara dekiru!)

Kantan ne mazuwa... (hagemasu oto de)

Ei! (Ei!) Ei! (Ei!)

Ō! (Ō!) Ō! (Ō!)

Te wo tsunagi hashire!

(Hora hora, kakedasou! Kimochi!)

[Your joy (My joy)

If we join them together, look! (We’re strong and invincible)

It’s something that anyone and everyone has. A power to save.

Find out how to do it (I know you can do it!)

It’s simple. First... (With an encouraging sound)

Ei! (Ei!) Ei! (Ei!)

Oh! (Oh!) Oh! (Oh!)

Hold hands and run~!

(Look, look, rush out! My feelings!)]

Kimi wa te ni shiteru! Daijōbu!

Ima koso (tonaete!)

Junbi wa (ī ka an?)

’Hapinesu! Hapī Majikaru’

[It’s in your hands! It’s alright!

Now’s the time (Sing it!)

The preparations (are they done?)

’Happiness! Happy Magical’]

Hitori hitori ga bokura no hīrō

Mahō no (kotoba de)

Tonaeyou! (Se no de!)

’Hapinesu~! Hapī Majikaru’

Koe ni daseba doko demo dekiru

Taisetsu an hito e ima

Omoiyari no attakasa wo todokeyou!

(Agetail Purezento)

[Each and everyone is our hero

With the magic words

Sing! (On your marks!)

’Happiness! Happy Magical’

If you voice it out, you can do it anywhere

Now, towards your important people

The warmth of when you’re thinking of them, convey it!

(I want to give it! This gift!)]

Hōhō wa (bugendai!)

Sasake chaou! Haji keta egao kimi e!

[The methods are (Infinite!)

Let it bloom! This bursting smile is for you!]”

I finish and hear silence for about five seconds until I hear a snort. I tilt my head up to see Aragaki-senpai covering his mouth and his body shaking until he couldn’t hold his laughter and smile in anymore. Unlike the wry laugh in the store, it felt full and complete, like a natural laugh. Once he’s able to calm down enough he then begins to speak, “Y-You really are something... I never thought I would hear someone sing a song, that I heard from a little kid, to try and make me smile. You really can be an idiot you know.” The words didn’t sound harsh though, they actually sounded playful. I then begin to laugh a little myself. “Well if you don’t explain why you don’t like to smile, I’m going to show you why it’s nice to smile.” By the time I finished my sentence, he managed to finally be calm, but he still had on a smile. “Maybe you’re right, maybe it is nice to smile.” But soon after the smile fades away and he looks out a window as if trying to say ‘but’...

My smile fades away at that, Aragaki-senpai seems to be a really nice, but serious person. But even serious people should smile at the lighter of times, it makes us feel better after the darker of times. I’m going to make a vow to myself! I’m going to vow that I’ll make Aragaki-senpai happy, so that he can enjoy smiling! After all, after the accident, where mom and dad died, I always felt better after smiling at the good times.


	4. Cooking Shinjiro (A Cooking Mama Parody)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today's the first day of the Gekkoukan High School's cooking club meetings. With the quiet, soft-spoken Fuuka Yamagishi as the club's leader, what's the worst that can happen there? There's also Shinjiro, the sea, his "test of courage" plans, Ken, and a night Shinjiro just wants to forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all~! I wanted to say that I do not own anything in this fanfiction unless otherwise stated. There is also another announcement. If there are going to be originally Japanese songs playing, I will not put on the romanji lyrics for them unless there are only romanji lyrics available. Thank you for reading this fanfiction!
> 
> Orchestra of Smiles (Egao no Orchestra) is a song by Hello, Happy World!

**Shinjiro**

* * *

It still feels weird to be a part of a club. For as long as I've been at Gekkoukan, I've never been in a club before. But thanks to Aki recommending me to the others, and me being a little bit- okay maybe really- excited for a cooking club as part of the school, I joined. Who knows, this might also be a way for Aki to be a little bit more happy. Thanks to joining this club, I have to actually attend school to go to meetings. Which is, so far, one of the two downsides. The other downside being I still have to communicate to people at the club meetings. I shift to a more comfortable position in my still uncomfortable desk at school. I honestly wish it was club time instead of the morning. While I still dislike talking to people, at least the people in the club are all people I live with in the dorm. There's Yamagishi, she's pretty nice, and Mochizuki, who can be a bit inappropriate at times, but still is actually a decent human being. Then there's the Arisatos. Arisato seems quiet like me, so there's not gonna be much trouble there. Arisato-san on the other hand could end up being a lot of trouble. I remember yesterday when she sang that stupid song that I heard about from Amada, who had heard it from one of his classmates, just to show me why smiling is nice. I end up having to stifle a laugh thanks to that memory. I haven't even known her for a day and I can tell she's a stupidly caring idiot. Of all the people to help cheer up, she chose me. I'm not worth that kind of trouble, although I still appreciate it. But I don't think I'm the right person for that.

I fidget with my hands and manage to find a spot in the classroom where I can clearly see the ocean through the window. I can even see the outline of the Moonlight Bridge. Some people say jumping off certain bridges into water is considered a test of courage. Not the big city-to-city bridges, but the bridges close to the water. I wonder though, what kind of test of courage would be for jumping off that bridge... I then hear the morning bell ring for classes to begin and the classroom door open with my homeroom teacher. I mindlessly say the good morning words, my mind is still focusing on the bridge and the water.

* * *

The day passed by too slow for me, but I'm glad it's finally time for the cooking club. I can't seem too excited though, I don't want anyone knowing about my 'thing' with cooking. I grab my bag and make my way to the home economics room, and find that I'm the first to arrive. I stand in front of a window as I see people leaving the school with their friends, and occasionally lovers. There also seems to be a girl stalking a guy? Maybe, I should tell that guy about her... "Aragaki-senpai!" Arisato-san's cheerful voice rings through the air and I turn around to see her and the rest of the club's members. Yamagishi gets out several ingredients onto the counter with the help of Arisato and Mochizuki. Arisato-san's smiling at me as she walks up to stand beside me. "How's your day been so far?" 

Does her cheeriness have an end? "It's been okay." She nods. "While that's not great, at least it wasn't bad, right?" I just nod my head, and shortly after Yamagishi calls for us. "A-Aragaki-senpai, Arisato-chan, the recipe is over here." We both go up to the recipe book and I read what it is, and I stop thinking about the recipe's directions. _Does Yamagishi know how hard these can be for beginners?_ Mochizuki's face looks at the recipe in surprise, "Yamagishi-chan, as good as these chocolate truffles sound, doesn't it seem difficult for someone who's just starting?" _Thank you for your common sense Mochizuki._ Yamagishi-chan stutters out a reply, "I-It might be a bit difficult, b-b-but we won't know unless we try!" Arisato continues to have his poker face on and Arisato-san nods in agreement with Yamagishi-chan. 

There's enough ingredients for all of us to create our own batch, so we split up into different sections once we write down the recipe from the cookbook on the whiteboard. Mochizuki seems to be getting the hang of the recipe, only really having problems with some of the tools needing to be used. Arisato and Arisato-san are also doing pretty well, although Arisato-san seems to be both more interested in it and used to cooking by a recipe. I then hear Yamagishi speak cursed words in the kitchen. "One teaspoon of liqueur... that doesn't seem like enough." _Oh no. Oh hell no, she is not wasting ingredients._ "Don't worry about it Yamagishi. One teaspoon is enough." 

I notice she still seems uneasy, but let it go past me until I hear more questions coming from her. "Dissolve two hundred grams of milk chocolate in hot water... Am I supposed to put hot water in it, or it into the water?" My concern for Yamagishi's cooking skills start to grow. "I would put the milk chocolate in the hot water slowly before dissolving it." She still seems to be uneasy about it, and apparently this catches Arisato-san's attention as well. "Do you need any help?" Yamagishi stutters out an answer. "O-Oh no, it's okay. I should be able to do this. Thanks though." I then start to internally panic for Yamagishi's ingredients, but do my best to ignore it since she doesn't want help. 

After a while, everyone finishes making their chocolate truffles. I stare at mine and allow myself to be proud of it, comparing it to the cookbook, it almost resembles the picture. Yamagishi's voice doesn't stutter for once. "This is really fun! I'm glad we could make a club, it's fun working with other people." I hear footsteps come up behind me and turn my head around to see Arisato, Arisato-san, and Mochizuki with their truffles. Mochizuki tries to peek around me, "Hey senpai, what do your truffles look like- huh?" Did he manage to see them. "What the-!? It looks exactly like the cookbook!" I see Arisato-san's face light up in excitement and it feels like everything is even lighter and warmer. I grab the tray of chocolate truffles and show the very expectant Arisato-san the chocolate truffles. "Aha! They look really good!" Then Yamagishi's voice chimes in. "Oh! Then, can you tell me about mine Aragaki-senpai? It looks a little odd-shaped."

I turn to face Yamagishi and her truffles. _What the actual_ fuck _happened?_ Yamagishi shows me the only chocolate truffle, I'm guessing, on the plate, which is the same size as an apple. I try not to be rude about this. "This _is_ a chocolate truffle, right?" Yamagishi nods. I can smell something sour coming from the truffle. But none of the ingredients in the recipe had something sour in it... "Oh, I uh... still thought a teaspoon of liqueur wasn't enough, so I added a cup." _You did_ what _now!?_ She continues, "Look see?" She's now holding up a bottle labeled 'vinegar'... That at least explains the smell, I'm still not happy about it. This is so wrong, I don't even know where to start, I don't even think that's edible at this point. "Yamagishi, that's not liqueur. That's vinegar." She checks the bottle in surprise. "Huh? Oh, you're right it says 'rice vinegar'. I didn't notice at all." She sighs. "I'm hopeless aren't I?"

Arisato-san shakes her head. "No one's born perfect in anything Yamagishi-chan. While this was a pretty bad mishap, we can learn to improve on it. Right, Aragaki-senpai?" I nod my head. Yamagishi peps back up and smiles. "You're right Arisato-chan! All I have to do is keep trying so I can get better at this." Arisato-san puts a hand on one of Yamagishi's shoulders. "That's the spirit! But let's have people pair up with you, so stuff like this doesn't happen again, okay?" Yamagishi nods. "Yeah. But it's getting late so we should clean up."

We all work on cleaning up all bowls, plates, and cooking utensils used once we had put our chocolate truffles in marked bags. As we wash the dishes, I hear a cheerful melody being hummed and trace it to Arisato-san. "What are you doing?" She pauses, "Humming 'Orchestra of Smiles'." I hear one of the guys chuckling and turn to see who it is, while Arisato-san continues to hum that song. It was Arisato. "So you're _still_ listening to them? Well, knowing you it does make sense. You always like to see the positive side of things." Arisato-san just shrugs at her brother as she continues to hum the song. It reminds me of yesterday and I end up letting out a low chuckle. Arisato-san lifts her head to see me and then winks at me while she continues to hum. _This is why I don't let my guard down, stupid people end up making me do stupid things. But I kind of like_ this _stupid thing._

After a lot of dish washing, and drying up because of Mochizuki flicking everyone and everything with water, we finish up as the sun is setting. Yamagishi and Arisato-san end up walking home together, and Arisato and Mochizuki also head home together. I slowly walk my way to the monorail, and my eyes only follow my feet on the ground. Night falls before I get to the monorail, and I look by the station's outskirts. **_That_** happened right over there. My reason for not liking to smile, Amada's reason for being at the dorm, how Amada became an orphan. It's all my fault, to what happened with Amada and his mother, why should I have the right to smile, when Amada can't even be with his mother anymore?

* * *

_**October 4th, almost two years ago** _

* * *

I was staying by the monorail station late at night. I liked hanging out with Aki and Mitsuru-san, but I would always come back over here. I don't know exactly why, but I'd say it was because I always found myself associated with trouble. It was like most of the nights I stayed out over there, most of the more aggressive punks were hanging out towards the more public parts of the outskirts. I stayed in the shadows, just hanging around over there. It was where I stayed before the dorm was built- but after the orphanage had burned down- and I still wasn't accustomed to it yet, even though I had been staying there for over half a year at that point. But then I heard two voices that weren't the punks, one was a woman. "Look, I'm not looking for any trouble! I just need help getting my son to a doctor!" This had piqued my interest, and, while making sure I couldn't be seen, see a woman in most likely her thirties and a young boy, who was bleeding in her arms. 

I wanted to go out and help them, but I didn't know what I could do. I had left my phone at home so if had been really serious, which it was, I can't call an ambulance to get to them immediately. One of the punks, the leader one, had stepped in front of the woman holding the boy. He had been sizing up the woman. "If we help ya, it's gonna cost ya." The woman uses one of her hands as if she was searching for a wallet. "How much?" The punk leader had stepped directly in front of the woman. "I'm not talkin' about money." 

That's when I started to walk out of the dark alleyway. The woman looked at him in shock. "I..." The punk leader grabbed the free wrist of the woman, and I had begun to walk even faster to get to them. Some of the punks started to notice I was heading towards them, and decided to step in front of me. "Beat it, kid." The woman had then looked at me, and in her face was terror and fear. I then pushed, or in some cases punched, through the wall of punks; but they always managed to pick themselves up before I can take another step towards the woman, the child, and the punk leader.

The woman seemed to have found her confidence and glared at the punk leader as she struggled to get out of his grip. "I'm going to find help somewhere else. Let me go." All the punk leader did was tighten his grip. "It's too late for that." He started to snicker along with a few of the other punks and I tried even harder to try and get to the woman to help her and her kid out. I managed to get a couple feet closer, but still couldn't quite get past the punks. The woman had managed to squirm out of the punk leader's grip, but he was still trying to get to her. When he almost got her again, she evaded his pursuits, and instead slapped him. All that did was make the situation worse, it was evident on the leader's face. I was rushing to get to the woman at that point. The leader took out again, "You'll regret that." I noticed that he was aiming at the kid. I shouted out. "Don't you fucking dare!" But I was still too far away and I heard the sound of a gunshot. But it didn't hit the boy.

I see the woman shielding the boy with her back, and a hole stained with crimson right around where her heart should be. Not too long afterwards, she collapsed. After that my ears started to ring, and everything was blurring into the same crimson of the woman's blood. I didn't even realize what I was doing until I had stopped seeing red. I had beaten the shit out of the punks I could reach, and the others had fled. I approached the now sobbing child and the woman with a bullet in her back. I scooped the child out of his mother's arms, but put him down next to her. After that, he had just held on tightly to her, and I could see that one of his legs and one of his arms had deep gashes in them. I went up to the woman and tried to see if she had a pulse. All I found was a deep cold and nothing beating. The woman was dead, and it wasn't until later, when the police had shown up, due to someone hearing a gunshot, that I learned how the woman died. While the bullet didn't pierce her heart, it did hit too close to it to where she ended up losing a lot of blood too quickly. 

I didn't have any serious injuries, but I went to the hospital where the woman's son was being kept due to his injuries. I walked into his room when he had woken up. The first thing he said to me was. "You tried to save her. It didn't work, but you tried." I could see the tear marks on his face. "Thank you for trying..." I had skipped school that day, to stay with the kid and help him with his situation. I had learned that boy's name that day, and I convinced Mitsuru-san to let him stay at the dorm since he didn't have any other family. That little boy was Amada.

* * *

_**Present Day** _

* * *

I turn my face away from the outskirts. I never deserved that thank you. I didn't save her. I wasn't fast enough, and because of that Amada's mother lost her life. I don't deserve happiness because I failed to save the one person Amada was attached to. I make it onto the monorail and watch the sea glimmer in the city lights and moonlight. _A test of courage, huh?_ I wonder how the water would feel if I jumped from that bridge. I wonder if it would make me feel numb, or if I would feel relieved. It might be better jumping than continuing, the others wouldn't have to worry about me then. _Maybe I should set a day for this "test of courage"._

The monorail makes it to the Iwatodai station and I leave the monorail, making my way to the dorm and see Aki sitting on the couch. "Where have you been?" I scoff at him. "I was at the club that you recommended me to the others about, and after that I went here, but I went slower than I normally do. By the way, you are one bastard to get me into joining _that_ club." Aki snickers. "Really? So you don't like cooking all those buffets?" I groan. "That's not what I meant. I just... I don't like people knowing that I like it." Aki stands up and pats me on the shoulder. "Well maybe you should. Shinji, I care about you as if you were my own brother, same with Mitsuru-san. But what if we're not always going to be by each other's side? You need to learn how to communicate with others better Shinji. I'm not saying you have to befriend the whole damn school, I'm pretty sure the gods know that there are some people there you don't need to make friends with... But you need to find more friends Shinji. Because what would you do if something bad happened to both Mitsuru-san and me?" I swallow the lump in my throat, wracking my mind to try and find a way to escape that question. "It doesn't matter..." "Yes it does Shinji!" While I know Aki's right, I brush him off and start heading to my room.

I manage to evade Aki and when I get into my room, I slam it shut and lock the door. I hear knocking on the door and Aki's muffled shouting through the door. He stops after about ten minutes and decides to leave. For once, I take off my pea coat, and then, something that happens everyday I wear it, I take off my uniform blazer and chuck it into a corner of the room. I lay down on my bed, knowing fully well I won't be getting any sleep tonight. _I'm not worth their effort, so why do they even try? Why am I here instead of Amada's mother? **Why should I even be alive?**_ As the thoughts continue to spiral down, the room starts to get darker and darker. It feels hard to breathe and I can hear myself breathing heavily and hear my breath shake. Then I hear a quiet knock on the door. "Aragaki-senpai? Are you awake?"

It's Arisato-san. Somehow just hearing her voice makes me feel like I can breathe properly again. I sit up and get off of the bed, still trembling, but doing my best so that I don't show it when I open the door. I open the door to see the girl looking up at me in concern. "What is it, Arisato-san?" She doesn't seem to mind the gruffness of my tone of voice when I ask that question. "Aragaki-senpai, are you okay? Sanada-senpai said you were acting stranger than usual when he was talking to you..." I sigh, of course he would ask someone to try and get me to talk. But why Arisato-san? "I'm fine. Don't worry about it." She stares at me directly in the eye, and when a pout comes onto her face I can tell she saw straight through my lie. She sighs in return though. "Okay, whatever you say Aragaki-senpai." I'm about to head back into my room when she continues. "But if anything does end up bothering you, lemme know, okay?" Just like that the dark thoughts and suffocating feeling disappear and all I'm left feeling is an airy feeling I can't quite place. It seems that even the cold vanished because now I'm feeling a comfortable warm. "A-Alright, Arisato-san."

She smiles at me. "Goodnight, Aragaki-senpai." I end up smiling back. "Goodnight, Arisato-san."


	5. Midterms, Concerts, and Transfer Students Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been about a little over a month since school started and the Arisato twins came. Now the first set of midterms are just around the corner, and the weekend after them is a concert featuring five bands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again~! Reminding everyone again that I do not own anything in this fanfic unless otherwise stated.
> 
> "Goka! Gokai!? Phantom Thief!" is a song by Hello, Happy World!  
> "Light Delight" is a song by Poppin'Party  
> "COMIC PANIC!!!" is a song by Afterglow  
> "Yura Yura Ring-Dong-Dance" is a song by Pastel✽Palettes   
> "Neo-Aspect" is a song by Roselia
> 
> The English translations are from the BanG Dream! Girls Band Party Wiki.

**Shinjiro**

* * *

I honestly have no clue how Mitsuru-san can sit in a desk and study for hours on end. I can barely sit still after a half hour. Although it doesn't seem like I'm the worst at studying in the dorm. "Are you kidding me!? We didn't go over this in class! Wait, did they go over this while I was sleeping!? That's cheating!" I have learned today that Iori can be obnoxiously loud when he's attempting to study. Today's May 17th, the night before midterms, so everyone's staying at home tonight to prepare for the midterms. I'm not attempting to go all in, but I also don't want a failing grade either. I don't need Mitsuru-san and Aki on my ass even more. After about another hour of studying, I decide to stop and just go into the midterm exams with what I have. I put away my studying supplies and get ready to head to bed. I lay in my bed and think about the ocean. "July 26th..." That's the day I will do my "test of courage". The first day of summer break. Just a little under two months away is when it will come. Where no will worry about me, where I won't have to feel anything or remember anything. I close my eyes to try and get sleep.

* * *

All I can think of is the ocean and it's welcoming embrace. I feel the water enveloping me and it's cold, and I can't see the bottom. Then I see a face, a girl's face. A girl with auburn hair, brown eyes that, for the most part, look like a dark red. "Aragaki-senpai, where are you going?" I don't answer and then I see the girl coming into the water, swimming towards me. "Aragaki-senpai, the water's cold. Didn't you tell me last week that you hate the cold?" I still don't give a reply and my vision becomes blurry thanks to the ocean. The girl makes her way towards me as I start to sink. I feel small hands trying to keep me afloat, and that's when I start to see everything brighter and clearer. I tilt my head downwards to see the girl holding me. "Don't go away, Aragaki-senpai." I start to see tears streaming down her face, and then I see on the shore Aki, Mitsuru-san, and Amada. "Please, don't go away, Shinjiro…" I then see a bright light.

* * *

I wake up and instantly sit up. Unlike most dreams I have, this one seemed to have a glimmer of... of hope. I calm myself down from the bizarre dream and breathe in slowly. I let my breath out and check the time. 05:00. I decide to get ready for the day and make breakfast for the others. As I make breakfast my mind travels to the girl from my dream. That girl, that was Arisato-san wasn't it? Why was she crying? After about an hour and a half, I finish making breakfast for everyone. I take a small, but healthy, portion and eat by myself at the table. I finish eating quickly and wash my plate before going to the lobby. As if sensing my presence, Koromaru wakes up and approaches over to me excitedly. I pet his head and scratch behind his ear and I hear his happy pants. I find myself smiling. "Good morning Koromaru. I made you breakfast." As if on cue, Koromaru runs over to his bowl and begins to eat the breakfast I made him.

  
I walk back into the lobby and sit on the couch. It's still only 7:15, and the monorail only takes fifteen minutes to get to the stop I need to get to school. I decide to take a short nap on the couch as people trickle into the kitchen and dining room. I have just been seeing black for a while when I hear her. "Aragaki-senpai, you need to wake up now." Arisato-san's voice was soft and gentle at that point. It reminds me of her voice in the dream from last night. I wake up from my nap and see Arisato-san directly in front of me, almost too close for comfort.

  
She backs away from me once she notices I'm awake and I stand up. I scan the room to see we're the only ones left. As if reading my mind she says, "Everyone already left. We should hurry, it wouldn't be good to be late on our first day of exams." She smiles brightly and once I grab my bag, she grabs my wrist and drags me out of the dorm and to the monorail station. On the monorail we stand next to each other, holding onto the same pole as we travel. I see her looking at the bridge and tightening her grip on the pole, her eyes shine with anguish and grief. I've only seen her like this once before, in the exact same situation. The first day of school on the way back home, she had this exact same look on her face. I wonder what makes her feel that way.

  
The monorail reaches the station and her face changes from grieving to shock and joy. She grabs my wrist again and she takes off with me to get to school. She decides to make small talk. "So, did you study last night Aragaki-senpai?" "I did a little bit... I never realized how loud Iori studies until last night." She laughs a little bit, and the sound makes me think of the silver bells I usually hear during the holidays. With her laugh, the colors around me seem more vibrant than before and my thoughts about the ocean disappear. Once we can see the school she lets go of my wrist. She swings herself around and her smile goes from ear to ear. "Good luck on your midterms, Aragaki-senpai!" She waves goodbye and runs off into the school. I felt the corners inch upwards as I watch the 2nd year run off.

  
My smile fades away as I go further and further into the school building. Despite there being exams, people still love to hear and spread rumors. "Hey did you see what happened by the monorail earlier this morning?" "No, what happened?" "I saw that 2nd year transfer student, Minako Arisato, holding hands with Shinjiro Aragaki." "No way! Do you think they're going out?" "Maybe, but there are still a ton of guys at the school who like her, so they might get jealous if they find out. I still can't believe she got the attention of so many guys so quickly. But if her and him are dating, it'd be weird don't you think?" "Yeah, a delinquent and Arisato-san don't seem to be the most believable couple. Not to mention all of the stuff I hear he's caught up in." I step up to the two students talking about rumors. "Shouldn't you two be worrying over your exams rather than rumors?" They tense up and turn their heads towards me. "A-Ah Aragaki… Uh... Hi?" The two look like deer in headlights for another minute before booking it to their classroom.

  
I'd normally be fine with the rumors about me, but I don't need Arisato-san getting caught up in it as well. She's a good person and she doesn't need to have people slandering her because she hangs out with me. She shouldn't even be hanging out with me to begin with. Just like that, the school seems to drain of color and shadows are seen all around me. That suffocating feeling comes to me, not to an extreme extent, but it's there. I make way to my classroom as the first set of exams for the year begins.

* * *

_**Last Day of Midterms** _

* * *

The bell rings and it's the signal that all the exams are done. I grab my belongings as quickly as I can so I can get home. I open the door to my classroom only to see a taller than average girl on the other side. She has purple hair in a ponytail and red eyes. She moves her hands to the side of her body in a melodramatic way. "Ah, my apologies. I must be in your way." She stepped away from the door so I could leave and I mutter to her. "Thanks." She smiles. "Of course, monsieur." As soon as she stepped into the classroom I heard one of my female classmates scream. "Eeeee! It's Kaoru Seta! Kaoru Seta's here~!"

  
It seems like the whole school heard that girl yell about this 'Kaoru Seta', because as soon as she said that almost every girl I've seen at this school comes flocking to the classroom. I somehow managed to get trampled into that mess, don't ask me how I don't know. It just happened. I hear footsteps and hear Aki's voice. "Seems like you got roughed up in that aftermath. Here." Aki lends me a hand and he helps me stand back up. I hear a bone crackle as I stand up. "Do you know who the hell 'Kaoru Seta' is?" Aki shakes his head. "Not a clue. They must be popular though considering hearing that they were here, their fans forgot you existed and somehow managed to trample you down to the ground." He chuckles and I smack him upside the head. "Very funny."

  
Then I hear more footsteps and see Arisato-san coming up the stairway. She sees us and waves to us. "Aragaki-senpai! Sanada-senpai!" She runs up to us and I see Arisato and Mochizuki following behind her. Aki waves to her. "Hey, what's up? How were exams?" She smiles. "I think I did well! How about you two?" I shrug and Aki speaks again. "I think I did well, probably not best in the class, but better than average." Arisato and Mochizuki finally catch up to her. They notice the large crowd coming from the classroom. Arisato, surprisingly, is the one to bring it up. "So, what's going on in there?" He points to my classroom. I shrug. "Not exactly sure, someone named Kaoru Seta is in there and all the girls came flocking." Aki chuckles. "Shinji even got trampled by them." I glare at him. "Oh shut it." We then face the three second years who all have their jaws dropped, even Arisato. Mochizuki is the first one to yell. "Are you kidding me!? Do you two not know who Kaoru Seta is!?" Aki and I look at each other before shaking our heads. Arisato-san is the next one to yell. "She's the guitarist of Hello, Happy World!" Arisato is the last one, although not yelling. "She's an excellent actress as well. She gets really into character."  
The only one of those things that stuck to me was this Kaoru Seta being the guitarist of Hello, Happy World! I know of Hello, Happy World thanks to Amada, hearing it from his classmates, and Arisato-san, who's a huge fan of theirs. Honestly it's not that big of a surprise for me and Aki to not know about her. I then see Arisato-san takes out her smartphone and starts going through it until she finds what she's looking for, and practically shoves her phone in my face. "This is Kaoru Seta!" I hold her phone so I can actually see the damn person, and I notice it's the girl with the purple hair. "I see..." I hand the phone back to Arisato-san. Arisato glances back at the classroom, which is filled to the brim with girls from the school. "I don't think we're going to get the chance to see her. Let's just go home." We all nod and we all head to the nearby stairwell. As we head down I hear a girl yell. "You idiot! Do you have to cause so much attention all the time!? Someone could get trampled in this mess!"

  
I snort at the irony of what that other girl said. I tilt my head down to see Arisato-san smiling at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes. I feel warm and flustered all of a sudden and was about to say something when she put a finger to her lips. As if she was telling me, "I won't tell." She stays still for a moment before continuing to walk, but this time I'm next to her. Aki, Arisato, and Mochizuki talk about the exam while Arisato-san and I follow behind them in silence. After we leave the school gate, I feel a light tug on the sleeve of my pea coat. I pivot my head to face Arisato-san. "I forgot while we were in school to ask you this. Minato and I learned that there was going to be a concert tomorrow and we already have Ken-kun and Ryoji-kun coming. But we were wondering if you wanted to come too?" She looks up at me expectantly and her red eyes sparkle. The light that she somehow manages to always bring around her seems to dazzle the world around her. I stutter out my answer. "S-Sure..." She smiles and her eyes twinkle. "Yay!"

  
I end up smiling at her and as I turn my head back to in front of me, I see Aki, with the smuggest grin on his face. I glare at him and he just grins wider, but he turns back to Arisato about different kinds of ramen. We make our way to the monorail and I see that the station is having a stage built and flyers for a concert everywhere. I see a poster for Hello, Happy World which shows Seta, a blonde girl, a girl with blue hair, a girl with bright orange hair, and a large pink bear. There's another poster for a group called Roselia which seems to have a gothic aesthetic, and a poster for a group called Pastel✽Palettes which shows each girl in the band with a pastel color. One of the girls looks similar to one of the girls from Roselia. Then there's a poster for a group called Afterglow which seems to have a punk rock vibe coming from it. The last poster is for a group named Poppin'Party where the lead singer's hair makes me think of cat ears. These must be the bands for the concert. We head onto the monorail and make it to our stop on time.  
Inside the dorm there's already Amada and Koromaru. "You guys are back. How was the last of your midterms?" I shrug again. Aki smiles at the younger boy. "I think I did pretty well." Arisato-san and Arisato simultaneously say, "Same here." Mochizuki nods. "Same as them." Aki goes off to upstairs. "I'm gonna go to my room. See ya guys later." Once he leaves Arisato-san puts her hands to her hips. "So is everyone excited for the concert tomorrow?" Arisato nods while Mochizuki and Amada cheer. "Yeah!" I mumble. "Yeah." She smiles wide and claps her hand. "Alrighty then! Let's all meet up here in the lobby at noon. The concert starts at one o'clock pm and I know it's gonna be busy. So let's get there early! Brief meeting adjourned!"

  
Mochizuki, Arisato, and Ken all head upstairs while conversing with one another. I start making my way upstairs when I feel a light tug on my pea coat again. I turn around to see Arisato-san with a small smile on her face. "Yes Arisato-san?" She stares into my eyes, hers are glazed with concern. "Are you alright Aragaki-senpai? From what happened with you getting trampled and all?" The air feels heavy, it's not like when I feel like I'm being suffocated. This is a different feeling, a nicer, more welcome one. I swallow the lump in my throat, I didn't even know I had. "Yeah, I'm fine. It'll take a lot more than that to really bother me Arisato-san." She scans me a bit longer before smiling at me. "Okay, but you don't have to call me by my last name anymore Aragaki-senpai. You can call me Minako." I stutter out a question. "Wh-Why?" She giggles again, those silver bells ringing. "Because we're friends Aragaki-senpai!" Once again, the colors I normally see seem to glow and shine. I find my reply with a smile. "Alright, but you have to call me by my first name in return too, Minako-san." She smiles wider. "Okay, Shinjiro-senpai!" If it's even possible, the colors grow even more vibrant.  
She thinks for a moment before her face brightens some more. "Shinjiro-senpai, do you wanna go out to eat?" That caught me off guard. "H-Huh? Sure?" Her smile brightens up the entire dormitory and she shouts. "Then let's go!" She grabs my wrist once again and we sprint off to go find somewhere to eat. As I watch the auburn hair in her ponytail bounce up and down, her scarlet eyes sparkle in the setting sun's sky, and her shining smile, for once, I feel at peace.

* * *

_**The Next Day** _

* * *

I sit on the couch petting Koromaru, while waiting for the others. I'm wearing my pea coat like I normally do, and I wear my black turtleneck sweater that I normally wear on my days off. The first person to appear is Amada and he sees me and waves. "Looks like we're both early." I stop petting Koromaru, and Amada starts petting him instead. Mochizuki and Arisato come down next, and I see Arisato's wearing a t-shirt under his coat instead of his usual turtleneck. Mochizuki must have noticed too. "Hey, Minato, why're you wearing a t-shirt." His reply is blunt. "Roselia's playing, and I like Roselia." He opens his coat to see that the t-shirt has the Roselia logo on it. Then he closes it and sits down on the couch next to me. Mochizuki looks around. "So we're all just waiting for Minako-san?" I was about to nod when I hear a shout. "Not anymore!" We all turn our heads to where Minako-san's voice comes from. She's wearing a soft-looking sweater, a crimson scarf with her scarlet headphones, a plaid skirt, black tights, and brown boots. She skips her way towards the rest of us. "Are we all ready to go?" We all nod, but Mochizuki also adds in, "Yeah!"  
We all leave the dorm and go to the monorail station together. Minako-san is beside me to my left, Amada is to my right, and both Mochizuki and Arisato are in front of us. Amada ends up staying close to me. He lifts his head to Minako-san and I. "Which band are you most excited for, Minako-san, Shinjiro-san?" Minako-san replies to the question rapidly. "I love all of the bands! But I'd say my favorites are Roselia and Hello, Happy World!" I think about my answer for a little longer before answering. "The only band I've heard is Hello, Happy World! But on appearances, I'd say Afterglow. They seem interesting." Amada smiles. "I've only heard Hello, Happy World! too. I've heard all the other bands were good too though."

  
We make it onto the monorail and I notice that the monorail is unnaturally full of people. I know it's usually busy this time of year, but it's never this busy. After managing to safely get on and off each of the station platforms without losing anyone, we then make our way to where the concert is being held. Once we get there, the line to attend is massive, and there's still a half hour before the concert starts. It's also an unnaturally hot day for May, although it is getting closer to June now. Once we are allowed inside, I scan the area to make sure there was a concession stand, in case someone needs water. Minako-san, I'm guessing, tries to grab my wrist, but ends up grabbing my hand instead, and she also grabs Amada's wrist and takes us to a spot in the crowd where the speakers aren't too close and be able to get a glimpse of the bands. She lets go of Amada's wrist and my hand, and once she lets go of my hand it feels like I lost something important. "Ken-kun, can you see the stage alright?" He takes a quick glance at the general direction of the stage. "For now, yeah." Minako-san smiles. "Great!"

  
We wait around for a little while longer as more of the crowd trickles in. Finally a voice makes itself heard. "Hello everyone! Are you all ready for the Quintuple band concert!?" Minako-san and Amada end up shouting along with most of the crowd. "Yeah!" The woman who's the announcer replies to everyone. "Alright! Then please give your attention to the first band of the day: Hello, Happy World!" Minako-san screams with excitement and Amada's smiling pretty wide. He may try to put up a front that he's mature for his age, but he really loves some more childish things. This band and Pheonix Ranger Feathermen R are two examples. All of a sudden jazz-like music starts playing and the curtain reveal the girls, and bear, from the poster. But that Seta girl is dressed in a flashy, masquerade-esque mask and suit, and the blue-haired girl, who happens to play the drums, is dressed as one of those old-timey damsels in distress. As for the other two girls and bear, they're dressed up like they're supposed to be detectives. Then they start to sing.

  
"Tonight with the moon in tow

A figure has appeared

Shout out with a nihilistic voice  
Tonight is party time  
With your smug lines  
Take aim (Your prey is)  
(I won't) Let it escape  
(I won't) Hand it over  
Elegantly appear!"

The blonde hair girl, the main vocalist, then points to Seta. "Just who are you!?" She then goes back to singing, but now she's running along the stage and pointing to the people in the crowd. That's when Seta, while still playing, starts going down the stairs while women in suits block the audiences from her.

"Until this night ends (Be my ally)  
Laugh proudly (Towards the sky)  
(Jyan!) Where!?  
(Jyan!) Are you!?  
A scream!? (Help meeee~!)  
Wait! Waiting! Hold it right there!"

Now the orange-haired girl, the bassist, is running along the stage as well. She's instead scanning the areas of the places she goes to.

"(Look for her!)  
Even on the chandeliers! (Over there?)  
And over there! (Wait for me!)  
Even the dresses are dancing in high spirits  
Blinking is forbidden! I said with an excited voice.  
(Byun! Byun!) Do it with style!  
(Kyun! Kyun!) MAGNIFICENT THE FREEDOM!  
My oh my, this is...  
Exhilarating! Clearly! In actuality!  
The Phantom Thief!!"

The vocalist points to the guitarist and as soon as she does, the guitarist starts moving to a different spot, and I see the suits coming closer towards us.

"With an awesome casting

The spotlight is (being monopolized!)  
It won't end tonight  
That kind of scheme is  
(Not!) passable!  
(Not!) forgivable!  
(Not!) acceptable!  
A fanfare on the climax!  
It's the Phantom Thief! Waiiiiit~~~~!!!

With a one hit-KO move (she dodged it)  
Chase after her (Chasing her)  
Hm!! Above!?  
Hm!! Below!?  
Has she appeared!? (Oh, that's right!!!)  
Fight! Fighting! Let's begin!

(Let's run!)  
Standing in the way! (Over there!)  
Hide and seek! (Now!)  
I have heaps of questions that need answers  
This unknown number is making my heart pound  
Gallant and always running ahead!  
(Hey! Hey!) Beware of the mirages  
(You! You!) Unreasonable DE☆ON STAGE!  
Completely exhausted  
As one! All together! No exceptions!  
The Phantom Thief!!!"

The blonde singer points to Seta again, and she leaps off the stage to block Seta from going in that direction. The bassist runs down the steps of the stage to block Seta's other side, and that's when I noticed that Seta is right in front of the section Amada, Minako-san, and I are in. I watch Minako-san and Amada's faces light up with happiness and smile at them, but I can't nag away the feeling that there are several pairs of eyes watching me.

"Pa! Pi! Pu! Pe! Doobiedoobop!  
Pa! Pi! Pu! Pe! Doobiedoobop!

(We finally managed to corner you! Prepare yourself~~~~!!!)

Your putting on airs! (That attitude!)  
Your true identity (Just who are you!?)"

Then a mini-smoke bomb goes off, shielding Seta from view. Then she goes out in the direction of the crowd and winks to the crowd. She rushes out and heads back to the stage as the song continues.

  
"She disappeared!? (Splendidly!)  
Smoke! Dororon!

(Search for her!)  
Even on the chandeliers! (Over here?)  
Or over here? (Wait!)  
Even the dresses are dancing in high spirits  
Blinking is forbidden! I said with an excited voice  
(Byun! Byun!) Do it with style!  
(Kyun! Kyun!) Magnificent THE FREEDOM!  
My oh my, this is...  
Exhilarating! Clearly! In actuality!  
Phantom Thief!!!"

By that 'phantom thief', they had all gotten back to the stage together, and stand in their original spots.

"Goodbye... Good night...  
Goodbye... Good night...  
Doobiedooba!"

The music stops and the crowd cheers with enthusiasm. The blonde girl, the orange-hair girl, and Seta bow in extravagant or flashy ways, while the bear and blue hair girl bow politely. I hear several shouts from some of the girls in the crowd. "Kaoru-sama!" "Kokoro-chan!" "Kanon-san!" "Hagumi-san!" "Michelle!" That must be the names of each of the band members, although the only one I know belongs to which face is Kaoru Seta.

  
Even though the concert has already begun, it somehow already feels stuffy to me. I turn to Minako-san and Amada. "Is it just me, or is it unnaturally hot for May?" Minako-san shakes her head and that's when I see the two have already started sweating. "No, it is kind of warm..." I point to the concession stand. "I'm gonna get water, do you two need anything?" Amada and Minako-san stare at each other for a moment before answering together. "Two waters." Minako-san hands me money. "Minako-san, what are you doing?" She smiles innocently at me, "Giving you money to pay for Amada's water and my water." I shake my head and try to hand her money back. She pushes the money back towards me. "I'm not changing my mind Shinjiro-senpai." I try to give her money back again, but then she does something really stupid. She gives me puppy-dog eyes with her usual pout. I'm taken off guard by it, and then sigh. "Fine." She smiles cheekily at me, and I head to the concession stand as the announcer lady talks again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, that was Hello, Happy World! with 'Goka! Gokai!? Phantom Thief!' Next up is Poppin'Party with 'Light Delight'!" I reach the concession stand and stand in line as the next song starts.

"The color of my sighs stain the ceiling  
As I gaze upwards from a lonesome bed  
Unable to let my voice out, unable to keep facing forwards  
I let my worthless tears spill

I cover my ears until I can't hear anything anymore (even so)  
As if I have nothing to lose when tomorrow comes  
I sing out with a smile

That's why  
I cry, cry, cry and cry (I)  
embrace, embrace, embrace and embrace (embrace myself)  
Searching for the Light Delight  
I'll try and bring it back  
(My voice) Song for the Light Delight  
I'll try and bring it back  
(My voice) Song for the Light Delight  
(Lets out a shout) Song for the Light Delight  
I want to make a promise (with you)  
But first, let me bring out all of my courage

A morning that starts from 'Good morning'  
A commonplace story continues  
Getting encouraged getting scolded  
Getting smiled getting laughed at

You're not alone  
As I look up to the sky (I think)  
Please stop pretending that you're lonely  
I sing out with a smile, that's why--

Crying, crying, crying, crying (until morning)  
Embracing, embracing, embracing, embracing (all of it)  
Search for the light delight!  
Even (if you're) taken in by the loneliness  
Song for the light delight! (tomorrow)  
I'll let it out honestly (to you) the painful things  
But first, I'll need to change myself first..."

"It's okay, you are not alone!"  
"Don't give up, just a little bit more!"  
"If we are together we can become honest!"  
"You'll be able to like your own self, that's why..."

"Crying, crying, crying, crying (together)  
Crying, crying, crying, crying (together)  
Just like this, surely forever  
The one (I'd like) to be beside me most  
Search for the light delight! (together!)  
Search for the light delight!

I'd like the living (you) to believe in yourself  
But first, I'll believe in myself

You're not alone in this world--

You're not alone--"

The crowd is even louder when it comes to the applause, I can even hear people whistling and whooping. I make it to the front of the line and scan the area, and I see Hello, Happy World! over by the stage, to the side. The bear seems to be very sluggish, the heat must be getting to whoever's inside. "Hello sir, what would you like?" I face the cashier and say my order. "Three water bottles please." I go back to looking at the band and see the bear collapsed onto the ground. "Actually, make it four." I pay the cashier and he hands me the four water bottles. There's a rope area separating the band area from the crowd, the rest of the Hello, Happy World! band has crowded around the bear. I stand right before the rope and shout to them. "Oi!" The girls then swivel around to face me. I shout again. "Here!" I throw them one of the water bottles. The blue hair girl fumbles with it before properly catching it. "Whoever's in the bear suit probably overheated their body. You need to put them in the shade and have them stay hydrated!" The blonde girl shouts back. "Thank you mister!" I scoff at them and make my way back to Minako-san and Amada.

  
I reach them and hand them their waters. Minako-san smiles brightly at me. "Thank you, Shinjiro-senpai!" Amada smiles at me as well, but not quite as big as Minako-san's. "Thanks Shinjiro-san." I open my water bottle and take a sip of it as the next two bands and songs come up. The first one was Afterglow with the song, "COMIC PANIC!!!" The second one was Pastel✽Palettes with the song "Yura Yura Ring-Dong-Dance". Once the applause for the Pastel✽Palettes stops, the whole crowd goes silent, and I see Minako-san waiting on baited breath.

The announcer lady walks back out onto the stage, and I can even hear her heels clacking on the stage. "Now everyone, this is the moment you've all been waiting for. Give your hands to Roselia!" The crowd screeched and cheered as soon as the girls came on and the music started playing.

"The dazzle of the beauty of life

In this melody that was spun is the path to being born

Believe me this is the right way.

Where has the light disappeared to?

It's as if I was getting dragged away

As my stretched out hand remains unable to grab hold of anything

I couldn't breathe properly as I sang

My lips that became cold grew silent.

Into (darkness... darkness...)

I feel (loneliness... loneliness...)

Your voice... The instant it touched the back of my heart

(Find a way... Find a way...)

I know (loved one... loved one...)

Hold hands once more

Surely, you feel frustrated, pitiful

and you've shed tears. I'm here.

I'll hold the door open

I hold you...

I hold you...

Beautiful prouder

So, beautiful braver

So, beautiful brighter

With pride held high (I want to play)

Sing away! Sing away!

Ah... on stage

Bewitch them with your new form

Wo wo wow..."

Now I understand why Minako-san and her brother like Roselia. Not only are they actually good at playing their instruments, their music is over-flowing with emotion, and they immerse you with it. They make you feel what their music feels. I turn to Minako-san with a sad smile on her face, and eyes that are looking through long, lost memories. I wonder what she's thinking about.

"You pretend not to hear

You don't turn around

So you wouldn't get crushed by your emotions

In that time, without knowing,

Your will got swallowed and has started fading

I will (go ahead... go ahead...)

This is (destiny... destiny...)

Your eyes... There is a lighted world behind your eyes

(Find a way... Find a way...)

You know (brightness... brightness...)

One more time, let's start it now.

Surely, even if it's painful, frustrating

Even if you stumble, I'll be by your side

I will keep the door open

I got you...

Along with your dreams, along with your words

Along with your thoughts, I'm running up (I want to convey this)

Ah... on stage

Only one! Only one!

Go around with these feelings of yours."

I decide to watch over Minako-san's reactions to the band, and that's when I see her lips of her somber smile quivering.

"Each piece of this song, piece by piece, I will sing it like it's embracing you...

Existence (Stay alive... Stay alive...)"

I try to get a better look at her face and I see something that surprises me, and it feels like something breaks inside of me as I watch it happen.

"This moment (Stay alive... Stay alive...)

I want to feel you all strongly..."

Minako-san is crying. I go up to her and whisper in her ear. "Minako-san, are you alright?" Her body trembles before she embraces me tightly and I can feel her tears soak into my coat. I decide to return the embrace to comfort her.

"Surely, you feel frustrated, pitiful

and you've shed tears. I'm here.

I'll hold the door open

Beautiful prouder

So, beautiful braver

So, beautiful brighter

With pride held high (I want to play)

Sing away! Sing away!

Ah... on stage 

Bewitch them with your new form

Wo wo wow..."

As the song fades to silence, and the deafening roars of the crowd start to play instead, Minako-san starts to calm down from her sobbing. She stands onto her toes, and she whispers into my ear. "Thank you, Shinjiro-senpai. Thank you so much." She stands like normal and wipes away the remaining tears before giving a bright smile again and joining the crowd. I finally follow suit with her crazy self, because she showed a part of her most vulnerable side to me.


	6. Midterms, Concerts, and Transfer Students Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Misaki Okusawa has recently been made a transfer student at Gekkoukan High School along with the rest of her band's members, including her girlfriend Kokoro. However, unlike the other members, she will be staying at the Iwatodai Dormitory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own anything in this fanfiction unless otherwise stated.

**Misaki Okusawa**

* * *

I stroll along the streets, checking their addresses as I look for my new home for the rest of the school year. I still can't believe that Kokoro ended up having to move in the middle of the school year. Her parents leave her at home with their suits normally, so it was shocking when we heard that Kokoro had to stay in Port Island for the rest of the school year just because her parents were going out of the country. But Kokoro being Kokoro, she asked all of us to come with her, Kanon and I were kind of just dragged into it, but I am glad I came with her. Kokoro is my girlfriend after all. But we still just started dating not even a month ago, and still not used to all of her shenanigans, so I opted in finding a different place to stay than her house. She and her suits helped me find the one dormitory available for Gekkoukan High School, the Iwatodai Dormitory. The suits actually told me that the business that runs this city, the Kirijo Group, made that building and that the daughter of the current CEO lives there.

I walk past a strip mall with a closed takoyaki shop as I still continue checking the addresses for the dorm. I yawn quietly and thank the gods that it's cooler now then what it was like during the day. I still can't believe I collapsed like that... Although I was inside the Michelle suit. I'm more surprised that this random, shady looking guy told the rest of them what to do properly, and even gave me not-drugged water. I had seen him during our performance for the concert, he was standing near a teenage girl and a little boy and watching them and their reactions. When I first saw him watching them I had thought that he was some creep, but after him helping me, I don't really know anymore. I check the address to another building, and I finally find a match. I mutter under my breath, "So, this is the Iwatodai Dormitory..." 

I sigh before coming up to the door and was about to knock when it suddenly flung wide open and a boy with silver hair ran out. "Mitsuru! I said I was sorry! I'm sorry, okay!?" As soon as he said that, a woman came through the door. I'm loyal to Kokoro, who's the best woman to me, but I'd be lying if I didn't say the woman was unattractive. She has long, flowing dark red hair with matching lipstick. "Akihiko! I told you to tell the others about the new girl to the dorm! she's supposed to be arriving any sec-" The woman cuts herself off as she stares at me with embarrassment clear on her features. She clamps her mouth shut, and then the silver haired boy notices me as well. He stutters out a question. "U-Uh... You don't happen to be the new girl to the dorm, a-are you?" I nod. "I am. I'm Misaki Okusawa, nice to meet you two." The woman looked livid, and the boy seemed to be terrified and afraid of his life. The woman shouts at him. "Akihiko!" The boy stiffened. "As punishment you have to clean the entire dorm tomorrow, and have it be spotless! Spotless!" The boy, I'd assume is Akihiko-kun, groaned, but mutters. "This is what I deserve for forgetting... Still sucks though."

The woman cleared her throat and faced me. "I'm sorry about what you have just witnessed. I'm Mitsuru Kirijo, a third year at Gekkoukan High School and its student council president. The person who had forgotten to tell the others that you were coming is Akihiko Sanada, another third year and a close friend of mine." She bows politely to me. "It's a pleasure to meet you and I personally welcome you to the Iwatodai Dormitory." Sanada-senpai also bows to me. "Nice to meet you Okusawa-san."

The two stand back up straight when I hear a dog barking and the two senpai swivel around to the door. In the doorway there stood an albino shiba inu with a fancy silver collar, a white dog shirt, and little angel wings attached to the shirt. A very adorable looking dog. Sanada-senpai chuckles, "Looks like Koromaru was wondering why the door was still open." The dog barks again and trots it way to me. The dog, and I see that it's a he, sniffs me a little bit before barking happily. I smile at it and pet it's head a little bit. The dog gives out a bark of content before sprinting back inside the dormitory. Kirijo-senpai follows the dog and Sanada-senpai waits by the door. "You coming in or staying out here?" I head inside with all of my stuff, even the DJ tray tables and the largest suitcase I've ever seen that carries the Michelle costume inside.

The inside reminds me more of a hotel than a dormitory, but it seemed comfortable. There was a boy wearing a cap playing with a hand-held game, and a blue-haired girl using her laptop over by a coffee table with a couple of couches and sofa chairs. Over by what seems to be the dining room I see two girls, one with blonde hair, and the other a brunette, talking to each other. Then a few beeping sounds come from somewhere and I hear a shout. "Dammit! I died again!" I swirled over to the source of the noise, it was the boy with a cap.

Kirijo-senpai cleared her throat. "May I have everyone come here?" Everyone comes over and Kirijo-senpai seems to be confused. "Where's everyone else? Shinjiro-kun, the Arisatos, Mochizuki, and Amada?" The girl with the blue hair answered her question. "They all went to the Quintuple Band concert today, they might still be out." The boy with the cap chimed in. "They probably went to get dinner afterwards." So they all went to the concert? I wonder how they thought of Hello, Happy World! Kirijo-senpai sighs. "Well, if they're out, I'll have to let them know when they come back. But I'd like to introduce you all to our newest dorm-mate." She gestures to me. I bow to the others. "I'm Misaki Okusawa. Nice to meet you all." Kirijo-senpai continues on. "She'll be staying with us for the rest of this school year." The other people in the room, besides Sanada-senpai and the blonde girl, have evident surprise on their faces. The brunette girl speaks up, "H-How come we weren't told about this earlier!?" Kirijo-senpai glared at Sanada-senpai. "I was busy prepping her room, extra studying for the midterms, and getting the next student council meeting ready, so I asked someone to tell you all for me. But this someone forgot to tell everyone." 

Everyone could clearly understand what she meant and nodded in response. As soon as everyone was ready to disperse I hear the doors open and a very excited feminine voice rang through the air. "We're back!" Everyone turned towards the door, including myself. What the actual fuck is he doing here? I thought this was for elementary through high school students only. Among the five people who came in, one of them was the man who told my band what to do when I collapsed from the heat. Sanada-senpai and Kirijo-senpai smile at the five people. "Welcome back." That's when I notice that the little boy and the teenage girl that the man was watching during the concert are there too. 

I see the man and a boy with blue hair staring at me, and the little boy notices them staring at something and traces it back to me. "Who's she, Mitsuru-san?" Kirijo-senpai smiles at the little boy. "This is Misaki Okusawa, she'll be staying at the dorm for the rest of the school year. The teenage girl smiles at me and walks up to me, that's when I see she has one of the Michelle bracelets from the merchandise shop at the concert. "It's nice to meet you Okusawa-san! I hope you like it here! I'm Minako Arisato!" She smiles and she reminds me a little bit of Kokoro, but I can tell she's more serious than Kokoro. I nod to her. "Nice to meet you too, Arisato-san." The little boy comes up to her side along with the blue haired boy and a boy with black hair. The blue hair boy speaks first, but it's a quiet voice. "I'm Minato Arisato, Minako's older twin brother. Nice to meet you too." I nod to him, and then the boy with black hair goes next. "I'm Ryoji Mochizuki, it's nice to meet you Okusawa-san." Then the little boy speaks out. "I'm Ken Amada, I'm part of the elementary school division for Gekkoukan. It's nice to meet you too Okusawa-san." I smile to the four of them and notice that the man is trying to sneak by them. Must not be one for socializing. 

Arisato-san must've noticed this because she shouted to him. "Shinjiro-senpai, why don't you introduce yourself too?" The man stops in his tracks and sighs. He then turns towards me and walks up to me, and that's when I realize just how intimidating he can look. "I'm Shinjiro Aragaki. Welcome." He was curt and instantly rushed away, he didn't seem to be in the best of moods. Arisato-san watches Aragaki-kun rush off sadly. I look into her eyes and realize something. She likes him. I don't know if she's realized it herself, but it's pretty obvious if you just look into her eyes. I shift around my stuff. "Kirijo-senpai, do you know where I'm staying? I think I'm gonna go unpack and go to sleep." 

The red-hair third year was staring in the direction Aragaki-kun went in concern before facing me. "Yes, I'll lead you to your room." I say my goodnights to the five other people I met, and I see that Sanada-senpai also seems to be a little worried. Kirijo-senpai helps me lift some of my luggage up the stairs. "So, is something up with Aragaki-kun? He seemed on edge earlier." Kirijo-senpai sighs. "He's not the happiest person when it comes to socializing with others, especially people he just met. Out of all the people I've seen him meet over four years, there have only been two people that managed to get to knock part of his walls down. Those would be Amada and Arisato-san. Akihiko's been childhood friends with him for as long as they remember, but he doesn't get to talk to him as much since Akihiko has a large fanbase of girls at school, and is the captain of the boxing team at school. Akihiko and I just worry about him a lot, and while I don't know about Amada, I think Arisato-san worries about him too." I nod to her and we end up in front of a room.

Kirijo-senpai gestures to the door of the room. "This is the room you will be staying in. If you have any problems let me know. My room is right over there." She points to a room before walking over there. "We have school tomorrow so make sure to get a good night's rest. Good night Okusawa." I nod to her, "Good night Kirijo-senpai." We enter our respective rooms and I unpack my stuff. When it comes to the Michelle costume, I attempt to hide it in the closet, but it still pokes out a little. I get ready for bed and once I lay down, I hear my ringtone go off. I pick it up to see a text from Kokoro.

**Kokoro: HOW'S THE DORMITORY?**

I laugh at my girlfriend's craziness of using all caps for something supposedly calm or serious. 

**Me: I see you're using all caps. It's pretty nice, I bet it can get a little crazy at times, but if it's anything like the band, I should be fine. If it's anymore, than I don't know how well it will go.**

**Kokoro: I'm glad you like it! :D But don't forget about me, okay Misaki~?**

**Me: I will never forget you Kokoro. I'm going to go to bed. Good night, love you.**

**Kokoro: GOOD NIGHT! I LOVE YOU TOO~! ❤️❤️❤️!**

I laugh again while feeling elated about my stupidly optimistic, crazy, loving, and lovely girlfriend. I turn off my phone and drift off to sleep.

* * *

I stand in front of my mirror, looking at me in my new uniform for my new school. To be honest, I'm a little nervous, but I think I'll be okay. I grab my school bag and my room's key before leaving the room and locking it. I go down one floor of stairs when I hear the groans of an unenthusiastic boy. I turn my head to see the boy with the cap from yesterday. He sees me and waves to me. "Oh, hey Misa-tan!" Misa-tan? What am I three? He walks up to me. "I didn't introduce myself to you last night, I'm Junpei Iori! Nice to meet you!" I nod to him. "Nice to meet you too." We continue to walk down the stairs. "So, what was with the groaning?" Iori-kun groans again. "Ugh... I'd rather not be reminded of it, but the scores of our midterms are being put out today." Oh, I get it now. "So you think you failed?" He visibly winces. "That's pretty blunt, but yeah. Kirijo-senpai is going to have my head." I laugh at him a little bit.

I hear a familiar voice come from behind us. "Is that so Iori? I thought you had told me your midterms were 'in the bag'?" I start holding in my laughter as best I can when I see Iori-kun's pale face. We turn around slowly and notice it's not the woman we saw last night, but instead it was the brunette. Iori-kun's face changes from pure fear to anger and annoyance. "Dammit Yuka-tan! You scared the shit out of me! I thought it really was Kirijo-senpai!" I did too, but this makes it funnier, so funny that I can't hold it back anymore. Junpei grumbled. "Misa-tan stop laughing, it wasn't that funny..." The brunette scoffs at him. "So you admit it was funny, and are you seriously still calling me that!? We're fifteen, not two!" The brunette's expression softens when she turns to me. "Sorry about him, he's just stupid. I'm Yukari Takeba, it's nice to meet you Okusawa-san." She smiles softly at me and I smile back at her. "Nice to meet you too Takeba-san." All three of us make it to the bottom of the stairs and we each grab something for a quick breakfast. 

As we're walking out I notice Aragaki-kun, or is he my senpai? Either way, I notice he's sleeping on the couch, but he's trying to hide the fact that he's holding something. It makes me wonder a bit what he's doing. "Hey guys!" I hear Sanada-senpai's voice and we all turn back around to see him, Arisato-kun, Mochizuki-kun, Amada-kun, the blue hair girl, the blonde hair girl, and Kirijo-senpai. Over by the couch, I notice Arisato-san smiling at Aragaki-kun and I see her eyes. Oh she definitely likes him. Everyone else comes up to us three and we all end up walking to school together, with the exception of Arisato-san and Aragaki-kun. 

On the way, I decide to blurt out my thoughts on the two. "Hey, so I don't know if this is my place, but what's up with Aragaki-kun and Arisato-san?" Kirijo-senpai looks confused. "What do you mean Okusawa-san?" Sanada-senpai starts snickering. "I can't believe you can't even see it Mitsuru." She smacks him upside the head. "What can I not see!?" Takeba-san sighs. "I don't know about Shinjiro-senpai's feelings on the matter, but Minako-chan obviously has feelings for him." Sanada-senpai looks at Takeba-san in surprise. "Really? I knew Shinji liked her, but I didn't know she liked him back!" I end up interrupting. "Wait, wait, wait. You mean they like each other? Do they know they like each other?" Sanada-senpai laughs suddenly. "Ha! I don't even think Shinji's realized he has feelings for her yet, and if he has he probably won't admit it." Arisato-kun sighs. "Minako probably hasn't found out yet either, but she'll be more willing to accept it than Aragaki-senpai." A smirk grows onto my face. "Who's down for a game of playing matchmaker?" Sanada-senpai puts on a Cheshire Cat grin. "Oh hell yeah, I'm in! I've been trying to do it subtly a few times but it hasn't worked yet." Takeba-san smiles. "I'll help too!" The blue haired girl smiles shyly. "I'll try my best to help as well, but I don't have a lot of experience in these things. Just teach me how to do the things I don't know about if I need to do them." I nod. "It's a plan then!"

We made it to the monorail and we parted ways with Amada-kun when he had to go to the elementary school part of the school. I see the entrance of the school in the distance, and I see a familiar figure on the wall of the gate. You're always so filled with energy, aren't you Kokoro? My blonde girlfriend is currently getting reprimanded by one of the male students, who has a student council arm band on. "You need to come down from their immediately miss! It is against school policy to be on top of the fence gate!" Kokoro's eyes seemed to be scanning for something and I make eye contact with her. "MISAKI~!" She jumps down from the fence and lands on top of me, and makes me fall to the ground. "Oww… good morning Kokoro." She jumps right off of me and helps me stand back up before giving me a bone-crushing hug. Mochizuki-kun chimes in. "Wait, you two know each other?" Kokoro nods. "Mhm! Misaki is my girlfriend, and she's Michelle's manager! Do you know who Michelle is? Ooo, are you fans of Hello, Happy World!?" At that moment Arisato-kun and Mochizuki-kun stare at me with shock on their faces before Arisato-kun clears his throat and goes back to his usual stoic face. He goes up to me. "Don't tell my sister that, she's a big fanatic of Hello, Happy World! She will ask too many questions. Not invasive ones, but it will bug you." Kokoro grabs my hand and drags me off before I can answer or question Arisato-kun, "Well bye people! C'mon Misaki, let's go!" I end up getting dragged by Kokoro inside the school.

* * *

The first day of school has ended, I ended up being in the same class with all the second years in the dorm except for the blue-haired girl. I didn't end up in the same class as Kokoro or Hagumi-san, but I could hear Kokoro through the wall at one point, so she's probably in a nearby class. I see Arisato-san pack up her belongings quickly and I try to match up with her. I finish shortly after she did. "Arisato-san." She swirls around to me. "Yes, Okusawa-san?" I smile at her. "You seem to be in a rush. What's going on?" She smiles and giggles a bit. "Oh! I'm heading to Shinjiro-senpai's classroom, we have a club meeting today, and I always go with him from his classroom to go to it." They're in a club together, that's good information but not nearly enough. "What kind of club are you two in together?" She begins to speak, "It's a-" She clamps a hand over her mouth. "Sorry, Okusawa-san, Shinjiro-senpai doesn't really like talking about being in the club out loud. He loves it, but he doesn't like other people knowing he loves what exactly it is." She hums for a moment. "But we are looking for new members, do you want to come in today and see our club?" I don't have practice today, so it's a good a time as any. "Sure." Arisato-san smiles wider. "Yay! C'mon, let's go pick up Shinjiro-senpai!"

I follow her and I notice the pep in her step. She's got it so bad for him. We end up at a classroom filled to the brim of female students and Arisato-san is in shock. "Huh? I've only seen it busy like this once..." That's when I notice it, this is the same classroom that Kaoru-san was told was going to be her class. The same one with the kind of crowd that I said could get a person trampled. That's when I hear her voice. "So Aragaki-kun, how are you so knowledgeable in health? Are you perhaps training to be a doctor? If so I shall encourage your dream, after all, Mahatma Gandhi once said, 'It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver'. It is a very fleeting and important piece of life." I then hear loud and brisk footsteps and see the crowd part as if it's Moses and the Red Sea. Instantly out pops a very pissed off and annoyed Aragaki-senpai. He then sees Arisato-san and I see his face calm down and see his eyes. Yeah, he likes her too, but something seems off. He approaches us and Arisato-san smiles gently to him. "Are you okay Shinjiro-senpai?" He nods and she smiles happily at him. "Alright! Off to the club room!" Shinjiro-senpai seems like he's about to ask a question when Arisato-san grabs his hand and starts sprinting to the stairs. I have to run to catch up with her and we end up stopping quickly. I read the sign for what kind of room this is. "Home Economics?"

Arisato-san opens the door while Aragaki-senpai still seems to be recovering from the run, and probably the hand holding that came with it too. We all walk into the room and I see the blue haired girl, Arisato-kun, and Mochizuki-kun. Mochizuki-kun is the first to bring me up. "Oh, hi Okusawa-san. Are you joining the cooking club?" It's a cooking club. Shinjiro fucking Aragaki doesn't like to talk about the fact that he loves the cooking club. That doesn't seem like something he'd be into, but I don't think it's that embarrassing. I reply to the question. "I'm checking it out for now. What do you guys usually make in here?" The blue haired girl answers me. "We usually make sweets, but Aragaki-senpai has us make healthy lunch or dinner meals from time to time." He cares about others health in general huh. I notice that Aragaki-senpai is getting more and more uncomfortable. "May I help with today and decide if I want to join at the end of it?" The blue haired girl smiles at me. "Of course. Oh! I should've introduced myself earlier this morning. I'm Fuuka Yamagishi, I'm the club president, but I'm not exactly the best cook. I made the club to learn how to be a good cook though!" I smile at her. "Nice to meet you Yamagishi-san." She smiles at me before getting out a cookbook. "So I wanted to try and have us all make this." She points to a fruit tart recipe.

I gauge everyone's reactions at the recipe. Everyone but Yamagishi-san seems okay or confident in their abilities with the recipe. Arisato-kun stands next to Yamagishi-san. "I'll help you today, okay Fuuka-san?" She smiles and nods, and I turn to face the other three members of the club. Mochizuki-kun pats me on the shoulder. "Okay, Okusawa-san and I will partner up together, and you two can work together! Have fun~!" He chuckles as he takes me to a cooking station and Aragaki-senpai and Arisato-san seem confused. I think I get what he's doing, so I whisper to him. "Letting them get closer?" He nods with an impish grin. I smirk and we work on making the fruit tarts. We have plenty of ingredients so we make multiple batches. As Mochizuki-kun and I talk together while we work on the tarts I see Aragaki-senpai and Arisato-san interact with each other. While Aragaki-senpai has a bit of flour on his hands, he doesn't have anymore flour elsewhere on him, while Arisato-san has specks of flour all over face and some on her hands and wrists. Better than Yamagishi-san, who somehow managed to get it all over herself. 

We all eventually managed to finish our fruit tarts, and I notice we had way too many for all of us. Arisato-san seems to have noticed this as well. "Umm, Fuuka-chan I think we made too many." I nod in agreement. "Yeah, I think we made a gross of fruit tarts." I scan the fruit tarts and then see little burnt blobs of dough and whip cream that have a few scattered uneven slices of fruit on them. I end up staring at them noticeably and Yamagishi-san seems to notice. "I might have burned the set of the ones I wanted to try on my own. But you're right Minako-chan, we made too many... Why don't we hand them to the other students?" Arisato-kun shrugs, Aragaki-senpai seems to be petrified at the idea, and Mochizuki-kun smiles at Yamagishi-san. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Let's be in a group though." Aragaki-senpai relaxes a bit, but still is pretty stiff. Yamagishi-san nods, and places the disaster of fruit tarts in a separate bag before taking a tray of nice-looking fruit tarts.

The rest of us grab a tray, for some two, and we exit the home economics room. We walk around and we see a group of students with student council armbands leaving a room. One of them being Kirijo-senpai. Yamagishi-san smiles and cheerfully calls out to the red haired, young woman. "Kirijo-senpai!" This brings the attention of senpai and the two people she was speaking to. I notice one of them is the boy who was yelling at Kokoro for being on the school gate, but the other is a girl I don't recognize. The boy has what looks like slicked-back hair, and the girl has glasses. We approach the three and Kirijo-senpai glances at the fruit tarts. "Hello everyone, how may I help you?" The boy crosses his arms until he sees Arisato-kun and Arisato-san. "Nice seeing you again Minato-kun, Minako-kun. By the looks of it, you two went to your cooking club again." They nod simultaneously, but Arisato-san is the one to talk. "It's nice to see you too Odagiri-kun! We made a bit too many fruit tarts so we were looking around for students who wanted some." Aragaki-senpai is trying to hide himself from the other students' view, but it's kind of difficult considering he's the tallest one of us all. The girl with glasses nods calmly and she smiles gently. "Sure Arisato-san." She tries one from Arisato-san and a bright smile falls on her face. "It's delicious! Thank you for letting me have one!"

Arisato-san smiles widely. "No problem Fushimi-san!" The boy, Odagiri-kun I'm guessing, tries a tart. His face describes that he was pleased. "I'm not the biggest fan of sweets, but this is still good. Thanks for letting us try some." Kirijo-senpai seems surprised, but takes one and she as she eats it, I see her face contort into a relaxing calm. She nods. "The tart was delicious, thank you all. I'll see you at the dormitory later tonight. She walks off along with the girl and boy as they continue to discuss what they were talking about before. "I have already checked with the vice president, but she isn't the one who was smoking that cigarette from the boys' bathroom." "I'd hope it wasn't her Odagiri."

Their voices trail off, and I start hearing several other familiar voices. Kokoro's being the loudest. "I wonder where Misaki went. Did she go check out the tennis club? She loves tennis!" Wait, there's a tennis club? I should join it. Kanon's squeaks out next. "I-I'm not sure... This school is so big, and she might've left already..." Then I hear a male's voice. "Hmm? Oh, hey Matsubara-san. Ah, and you're Seta-san and Kokoro-san, right?" "Ah! You were one of the people with Misaki this morning! Do you know where she went?" "No, but I can help you guys out. Plus if Okusawa-san isn't here, she's probably back at the dorm." Kaoru-san's voice is next. "The dorm? Are you perhaps one of the people in the Iwatodai Dormitory? That would make sense if you were with her this morning." "Yeah, I am. I've been there since it was made. I'm Akihiko Sanada." "Okay, Akihiko-kun! Time to find Misaki!" 

As if on cue, the rest of my band and Sanada-senpai come from around the corner. Arisato-san stops suddenly and I see her eyes bugging out with an extremely happy expression on her face. Arisato-kun and Aragaki-senpai. "Oh no..." A slight squeal comes from Arisato-san, but she visibly makes an effort to calm herself down. Kaoru-san smiles at her. "Bonjour, are you perhaps a fan?" Her eyes wander and her eyes land at me and Aragaki-senpai. "Ah, hello again Aragaki-kun, and there you are Misaki-san. We were looking for you." Arisato-san's attempt to keep her normally cheerful composure is failing as each second passes by. Sanada-senpai starts snickering and Kokoro runs up to me and I see her arms are open wide for a hug. I lift my tray of tarts so it's not in the middle of Kokoro and I. "Misaki~! There you are!" Arisato-san's eyes bore straight though mine. Looks like Arisato-kun wasn't kidding when he said she would have a lot of questions. Sanada-senpai approaches Aragaki-senpai. "So what'd you make today Shinji?" He sees the fruit tart tray Aragaki-senpai's holding and I see Aragaki-senpai is seething. Sanada-senpai takes one. "I don't have a big sweet tooth, but whatever you make tastes amazing so I'll give it a shot." He instantly eats it and a grin appears on his face. "Yep, just like I thought. Seems like you're having fun in the co-" He's interrupted by Aragaki-senpai kicking him in the shin. "Shut it Aki."

Sanada-senpai continues to snicker. Kanon-san and Hagumi-san approach me and Kokoro finally lets go. I let the tray down and they each take one, including Kaoru-san. They all smile. Hagumi-san and Kokoro are the first ones to say anything. "Delicious~!" Kaoru-san laughs a little. "How amazing, how fleeting!" Aragaki-senpai stares at the woman in confusion before turning to me. "I have many questions because it looks like you know them all. But my first one is this: do you know what the hell she means when she says 'fleeting' cause I've heard her say it at least a hundred times today." I shrug. "I don't know the exact Kaoru-san translation other than it's a good thing." Arisato-san finally speaks up. "Okusawa-san, how do you know most of the members of Hello, Happy World!?" Sanada-senpai is surprised for a moment before going back into his usual expression. "Oh yeah, you told me that Seta-san is the guitarist for that band, and you mentioned if everyone knew it this morning Kokoro-san." I sigh, guess the jig is up. "I'm Michelle, the bear. It's a suit I wear-" "No! You're Michelle's manager!" I sigh at my girlfriend, Kaoru-san, and Hagumi-san. She still thinks Michelle is her own person. "I've given up trying to tell them otherwise. Those three don't listen and don't understand it." Everyone is staring at me in surprise, especially Aragaki-senpai. I decide to face him. "Speaking of Michelle, thanks for the water and telling the rest of the band what to do when I overheated like that senpai. I appreciate it." Aragaki-senpai just scoffs. "Whatever."

Arisato-san smiles at all of us and giggles a little bit. "That sounds like you Shinjiro-senpai. You always care about everyone at the dorm's health." He blushes a little bit and turns a different direction. "Yeah, s-sure..." Kaoru-san and Kanon-san smile knowingly, while Kokoro takes a second before smiling as well. Hagumi-san is oblivious to the two people. Kokoro suddenly grabs a handful of tarts from my tray. She suddenly starts eating them. "They're so good! Don't you think Hagumi?" Hagumi-san nods her head frantically, "Yeah! They're super good! Did you all make these?" Yamagishi-san nods. "Yes, we did. Although not all of them were as great as these." Arisato-kun stands next to her and has a hand to his hip. "That's true, but you still tried your hardest Fuuka-san. Not to mention, when we made some together they turned out just fine." She smiles gently at him and I see Ryoji staring at the ground in disappointment. _He's disappointed?_

Kanon-san takes one more and eats it. Her face instantly relaxes. "You should join the cooking club Misaki-san. You're r-really good at this!" I nod my head. "Sure, but it also was a lot of fun doing this with other people." Arisato-san faces me and a dazzling smile appears. I see Aragaki-senpai's eyes glow and widen at her, and a light blush creeps it's way onto his features. A small smile sets on his face. Yamagishi-san smiles up at me. "You really want to join us?" I glance around everyone before confirming my answer.

"Sure."


End file.
